I'll Take You Away
by StrawberryMerry
Summary: Raven and Trevor had been enemies since they were kids and Raven doesn't know what to do when she suddenly finds herself enjoying Trevor's advances. Will she finally surrender her pride to be with him? Will Trevor throw away his reputation to be with her?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok. So this is the second time I'm uploading this. I'm sorry. It's still unfinished but at least it's not deleted. I still like it a lot and I hope you guys do too. **

**Chapter 1**

"Hey Monster Girl, going to a funeral?"

I rolled my eyes and slammed my locker closed with a little too much force. "Don't you have somewhere to be Trevor? Like Sears? I hear they're having a sale on khakis," I retorted, walking passed him towards the main doors to freedom.

I was just about to push through the heavy metal doors when I felt his hand grab my wrist, jerking me backwards. I lost my footing and fell back against his chest, my free hand waving around in the air in front of me.

"Let me go."

"Why would I ever do that?" he asked seductively in my ear, wrapping his other arm around my waist so my back was pressed against his chest. I could feel his warm breath against my skin.

"Someone will think you're holding my hand or worse, _hugging_ me. You wouldn't want to ruin your reputation and I really just don't want you touching me so I suggest you let go before I kick you where it hurts," I threatened, lifting one of my feet to show off my four-inch platform black combat boots. My shoes, when used properly, could do some serious damage.

"You use big scary words Bat Girl but I know you like it," he said. "And besides, there's no one around to see us. Just you and me, _together_."

The thing was, he was right. I did like it. I didn't necessarily like _him_ but I would be lying to say that having the gorgeous, although annoying, Trevor Mitchell holding me wasn't nice. There was a reason he was the most popular boy among the girls with his movie star looks. Even I, the independent monster Goth outcast who shunned anything popular and colorful, couldn't help but turn to mush when staring at Trevor too long. I may be Goth but I _was_ still a teenage girl.

But I still had my pride. "You have till three and then my foot is going to be planted between your legs."

"I'd much rather have _you_ between my legs," he growled flicking his tongue against my earlobe. I shuddered.

"One."

"Or beneath me…"

"Two."

"…your ghostly white legs tight around my hips..."

"Three."

"…screaming my name."

I clenched my fists and lifted my foot to deliver the hardest kick my fishnet-covered legs could manage when he released me from his hold. I whipped around to glare at him, wishing more than ever that I had the power to shoot laser beams from my eyes.

Trevor was standing inches from me, his tan, muscled arms crossed cockily over his polo covered chest, a satisfied smirk plastered across his chiseled face. His green, almond shaped eyes were twinkling. "You're blushing."

I self-consciously touched my face to find it burning beneath my fingers. "I got sunburned," I lied.

"I didn't know vampires could go out in the sun."

"Oh, how original. I didn't know trolls were allowed to attend school but you learn something new every day I guess."

"Then I guess we're both monsters aren't we? In that case, we're made for each other. The troll and the vampire." His smirk turned into a full Colgate commercial worthy smile.

"In your wet dreams," I sneered, flipping my black hair behind my shoulder and turning on my heel as I, again, headed towards the main doors.

"Always." I heard him say behind me, so quietly that I wasn't sure he meant for me to hear. I glanced behind me to see him walking in the opposite direction towards the gym where he would join his soccer team for practice, his hands tucked in the front pockets of his ironed khakis and his golden blonde hair shining beneath the glare of the hallway's fluorescent lights. He looked like a model and the freshly waxed tiles of the school hallway was his runway. I rolled my eyes and pushed through the doors into the blazing afternoon sun.

* * *

"I'm home," I announced as I walked into the house, breathing a sigh of relief as I crashed onto my living room couch and switched on the TV.

"Why are you so late today?" my mom asked, coming into the living room holding a basket of clothes which she dumped onto the recliner to begin folding. They were whites meaning, not mine.

"I was helping Mrs. Baker clean her classroom. Just doing my daily good deed for the community," I said hurriedly, flipping through the channels, searching for something that wasn't Oprah or Dr. Phil.

"So, why exactly were you in detention?"

Leave it to my mother to see straight through my lie. "What was I supposed to do? _Not_ throw my pencil case at Jennifer Warren after she sprayed me with her disgusting watermelon sparkle perfume? She said I smelled like garlic!" I exclaimed, throwing the remote control at the loveseat opposite my couch and punching the cushion next to me in anger. Jennifer Warren was lucky there wasn't something more dangerous for me to throw at her at the time…like scissors.

"Raven! You're seventeen years old, not _seven_," my mother scolded as only a mother could.

"So I'm just supposed to shrug my shoulders and thank her when she sprays me with that fairy juice? I don't think so."

My mom shook her bobbed highlighted head as she finished folding the fluffy white towel in her hands. "Of course you should stand up for yourself, Raven, it's just not necessary to use violence. There are other ways for you to solve your problems. _Grown-up_ ways."

I sighed. My mom obviously wasn't past her hippie ways. Peace and love were the only two words in her suburban mother dictionary. Well…peace, love, and _school._

"I think you should go see Becky. You need to leave the house, Raven. All you do is sit in front of the TV. It's no wonder why you're so angry all of the time. I would too if I had no one to talk to," she continued.

I buried my face in the couch cushions to muffle my groan of frustration. The truth was, I would like nothing more than to hang out with my best friend but the unfortunate thing was, she didn't feel the same way now that she spent every waking moment with her new boyfriend, Matt Wells. I, Raven Madison, her dark, vampire-loving, monster movie watching, black eyeliner wearing best friend had been replaced by the khaki wearing, soccer kicking, rich boy Matt Wells. Not only was Matt Trevor Mitchell's best friend, but he was also a really nice guy, which sucked because it gave me absolutely no reason to dislike him. So I had to just deal with being Becky's TV-watching, lonely, sad, and forgotten best friend.

"Huh?" my mother probed. Her curiosity was relentless.

"I can't," I mumbled into the couch.

"I can't hear you."

"I said I can't," I grumbled, lifting my head from the couch and flipping onto my back to stare up at the white ceiling. I brushed my hair out of my eyes with my hand and then examined my chipped black nail polish.

"Why not?"

"She's going to Matt's soccer game tonight."

"I think you should go with her."

"No."

"Why?"

"I don't want to," I stated simply, accentuating each word clearly. I really was beginning to sound like a seven year old.

"Well now you're just being stubborn. Get up off your butt and call her," my mom ordered.

"No."

When my mom didn't reply, I closed my eyes, figuring she had given up. My head was starting to throb behind my eyelids and I rubbed my temples to soothe some of the pain. Beeping came from the kitchen, signaling the dialing of our phone, and then I heard my mom's voice.

"Hello, Becky? This is Raven's mom, hi. I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind picking Raven up on your way to the soccer game tonight? She'd really like to go but was too shy to ask; you know how she is…yes…yes…oh, that's great! Ok, we'll see you at six…yep…bye dear."

As soon as I heard the phone click back into it's stand, I was off the couch and sliding into the kitchen in my black dress and fishnets. "What did you just do?"

My mom jumped when she saw me, her hand coming up to cover her heart as if to keep it from leaping out of her chest. "Oh, you heard that? I wanted it to be a surprise."

"I told you I can't go," I growled.

"Well, obviously you can. Becky was actually very excited that you're going," my mom said, turning on the oven to begin dinner.

"Ok, fine. How about, I don't _want_ to go?"

"And why not? I thought you wanted to see Becky?"

"I do, but not when she's hanging all over Matt. With him there, I'm like a third leg, not needed and very awkward," I explained as if it were a scientific fact. "And I really don't want to see Trevor any more than I already have to."

My mom nodded her head knowingly as she dumped a box of spaghetti noodles in a pot. "That's what this is all about."

"That's what _what_ is all about?" I asked, quirking a thin eyebrow at her and crossing my arms defensively over my chest.

"Trevor. You talk about him almost every day. If you have such a problem with him then why don't you just throw your pencil case at him like you did to that Jennifer Warren?"

_Because he'd steal it and hold it in his hands while he slept_, I thought amusedly. "I'm plotting something much worse for him. Something horrific."

"Oh no," my mom muttered.

"Oh yes."

* * *

"I'm so glad you wanted to come! We haven't hung out in forever!" Becky squealed as we climbed into her truck. She was dressed up in a light pink, conservative dress, most likely in the hopes of impressing Matt. "When was the last time we actually did something together outside of school?"

"I don't know, when did you and Matt start dating?"

"Two weeks ago," she stated.

"Then two weeks ago," I answered.

"Oh come on Raven, you totally could've hung out with us. Matt's not going to drive a stake into your heart or anything."

My mouth dropped open in shock and my eyes bugged out at her. "So now _you're_ making vampire jokes about me also? Great. You must be hanging around Trevor," I spat, looking out the window at the setting sun.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she apologized.

"So are you?"

"Am I what?" she asked naively.

"Hanging around Trevor?"

She hesitated for a moment before answering with a weak 'yes'.

"You're being taken over by the dark side and there's nothing I can do about it," I groaned.

"Don't you mean the _light_ side?" she joked. I couldn't help but to laugh.

By the time we walked onto the metal bleachers lining the side of the school soccer field, the sun had already set. We were early and the game hadn't begun yet so Becky scurried off to talk to Matt before the game, leaving me to sit alone. The soccer team was out on the field, playfully kicking around a soccer ball. I easily spotted Trevor, almost instantly. He already had a thin veil of sweat shining on his forehead and his blonde hair was sticking to his face. He was breathing heavily. I caught myself staring as he lifted his soccer jersey to wipe the sweat from his face, exposing his perfectly muscled stomach. The guy was modeled like a Greek god.

"Go Trevor!"

I peeked behind me to see Jennifer Warren and her best friend, Heather Ryan, standing up and waving at Trevor like two over-obsessed fan-girls. "Oh look, he's coming over!" giggled Heather.

I turned my head to find Trevor running up the bleachers, his eyes not on the two varsity cheerleaders, but on me. I actually felt the teensiest bit thrilled…or maybe I was just confused.

"Hey Monster, came to cheer for me?" he asked, sitting down beside me so close that I could smell the mixture of sweat and expensive cologne drifting from his body.

"As if. I'm here on behalf of the other team," I said, leaning away. "Back off Trevor, you're getting me all wet."

He smirked mischievously. "What was that Raven? I'm making you wet? I'm flattered."

My jaw dropped open in shock.

"Oh my God, what a _freak_, like Trevor would ever go for someone like her anyways. Talk about desperate." I heard Jennifer Warren say from behind me, not bothering to whisper.

Trevor glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "They're making fun of you Raven," he whispered.

"Yeah, I got that," I retorted. "It's because you can't shut your ugly mouth."

"Ugly? Well, that's not very nice," he said, making a hurt face. I rolled my eyes and turned my head away to stare intently at the rolling soccer ball, trying to ignore the giggling cheerleaders and Trevor with great effort.

"What are you doing?" I asked nervously as Trevor peeled off his jersey. Heather and Jennifer gasped so loudly that I couldn't help but to give them a 'what the hell?' look.

"Making your life hell," he answered, leaning forward. I was so distracted by the two gawking girls behind me and Trevor's naked torso that I didn't have time to protect myself before his lips were on mine.

I gasped and he took full advantage of my open mouth to plunge his tongue in. My brain was in shock and I had no control over my body and for the smallest part of a second, I kissed him back, enjoying the feeling of our tongues sliding against each other's. His mouth tasted sweet as if he had been eating something sugary.

The flash of a camera brought me back from my momentary brain lapse and I bit down on Trevor's tongue with my teeth as hard as I could. He cried out in pain, his words muddled. I put my hands on his slick chest and pushed him away forcefully before standing up and wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, not caring that I had smudged my black lipstick.

"You…" I growled, narrowing my eyes at Trevor whose hands were covering his wounded mouth. He looked up at me as if daring me to hit him.

I never turned down a dare.

I balled my fist up and pulled it back so it was poised like a snake ready to strike. Trevor's green eyes bored into mine as he stepped closer to me, bracing himself for the attack. I waited for the right moment when I could catch him off guard and then I would hit him in the face with everything I had.

I still couldn't believe that Trevor Mitchell, the most popular boy in school and my childhood nemesis, had just kissed me and it wasn't just any kiss, it was a _real_ kiss. My first kiss had just been stolen on the metal bleachers by a boy who only pretended to have some screwed up crush on me so he could mess with my head and embarrass me in front of the entire student body. He was not going to get away with it.

A whistle blew on the soccer field, signaling the players to meet before the game, calling Trevor's attention away from me for the slightest instant. I took advantage of the opportunity and lunged forward, my fist flying passed my face and heading straight for his perfectly straight nose. It was like a scene from Spiderman and I briefly wondered if Trevor had some super human powers as he quickly dodged my fist so it flew right passed his left ear and then grabbed my arm and pulled me into him, my face almost smacking into his naked chest.

"I've got to go. How about one more kiss for good luck?" he asked, leaning down so the tip of his nose was touching mine.

I swung my free hand up but he caught that one too and pinned both my arms behind my back so that he was now giving me an awkward hug. My back was arched into him and I had to look up into his face to avoid face planting in his smooth chest. It was a very compromising position.

"Let go Trevor," I demanded through gritted teeth.

"Or what?" he teased.

"Or I'll never speak to you again," I threatened. I wasn't sure how effective that was going to be but it was all I had.

His smile actually seemed to falter a little bit. "You wouldn't do that, Raven." He seemed so confident as he said this, as if he knew something I didn't.

"I would too."

"No…I don't think so," he whispered and he leaned down and I clenched my eyes shut, fearing another kiss. My eyes popped open in surprise when I felt his warm, soft lips press against my cheek. _What was that?_

His lips were then at my ear and I had to strain to hear him whisper. "You can talk big all you want Raven but just remember one thing…"

My heart thudded against my chest and I knew he could feel it too. I heard him laugh. "What?"

"…you kissed back," he finished.

I stared after him in shock as he ran down the bleachers to join his team on the field, not paying any attention to all of the fan-girls waving at him on the bleachers. A hard tap on my shoulder shook me out of my weird trance.

It was Jennifer Warren and I could tell by the look on her face that she was _not_ happy. "What was _that_?" she asked spitefully, throwing her blonde ponytail behind her shoulder.

"What was what?" I asked.

"With Trevor. There's no way you two are dating, that would be ridiculous. So explain, why did he kiss you?"

"Why don't you ask him?" I spat back as I pointed towards the soccer team who were now dispersing to different sections of the field.

"Whatever. I bet you think you're really special or something but let me tell you, you're not. A guy like Trevor would _never_ want a girl like you. You're not his type and he's way out of your league so you just need to back off," she warned, placing her manicured hands on her size zero hips.

Now I was beyond angry. "I think you're jealous because he's actually interested in the dark Goth girl. I bet you that if I wanted to, I could get Trevor, no problem." I bragged, folding my arms across my chest and glaring up at her.

She sneered at me. "Please. To Trevor, you're nothing but another piece of ass," she muttered before grabbing hold of Heather's hand and dragging her towards the other end of the bleachers where some of the other cheerleaders were sitting.

I spent the remainder of the soccer game, alone, fuming over tonight's events. Of course I was mad at Trevor for stealing something as important as my first kiss and I wanted to murder Jennifer Warren and her pom-pom wielding best friend for teasing me but the person I was most mad at was myself. After everything Trevor and me had been through, after all his teasing and abusing me over the years, after the heated threats and angry outbursts, and even though he only pretended to want me and his kisses meant nothing, the reason I was so angry with myself was because suddenly…I _wanted_ them to mean something.

I, Raven Madison, had some screwed up, weird, insane, out-of-this world, _small_…pretty much microscopic crush on Trevor Mitchell.

_Wait…what?_

**A/N: Ok. I'm sorry Alexander isn't in this story but seriously, how boring is he? It's all 'I'm gothic, your gothic, I love vampires, you're a vampire, I'm an outcast and have no friends, you're an outcast and have no friends, let's date' between Raven and Alexander. It's true. Trevor on the other hand has PERSONALITY and a REAL reason to like Raven. I actually feel bad for him in the book series…the love/hate relationship between characters is so freakin hot…and, oh yes, there WILL be lemons hahaha :) PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I'm a C-cup, which I am quite proud of. As I stand in front of my full-length mirror in my bedroom in just my underwear, I examine my seventeen year old, almost fully developed figure. My skin is as white as snow but is thankfully unmarred by pimples or scars, my hair is thick and shiny and it falls across my shoulders softly, I have long black eyelashes and full cherry lips---when I'm not wearing black lipstick. I'm average in height and I have long slender legs that lead upwards to my curvy hips and flat stomach. I used to be overly self-conscious about my figure and would hide it underneath black baggy clothing but I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter if I try to hide it or not. Either way, no one notices.

Of course I get looks and quite often, stares, but only because of my clothing. I'm like a gummy spider. I look shocking and to some people, gross, but when you get past the outside, I'm delicious. Unfortunately, the only people to notice my figure are my mom and Becky and when it came down to it, I was really not trying to impress them.

In fact, not until today, when I woke up this morning and remembered the events at last night's soccer game, did I really want to impress anybody. I wasn't sure if it was because of Jennifer Warren's words about me not being worthy of Trevor that made me want to wear a low cut top to show off my full chest or if was just Trevor himself that I wanted to impress. Maybe it was both. I wasn't about to wear khakis and a polo or anything, but as I slipped on my black thigh highs, black miniskirt, and low-cut, long-sleeved, top with lacy fringe, I felt…sexy.

Sexiness was almost like a super power. If used correctly it could bring men to their knees or destroy the confidence of other woman. It was definitely a power that I was not used to having but was eager to use, but on whom?

The first person to pop into my head was Trevor and I eyed the slight cleavage protruding from my shirt unsurely. I had to ask myself for the millionth time…why was I trying to impress Trevor all of a sudden? He was a jerk and the only thing appealing about him was his body that was for sure. Was I just being a lustful teenage girl? After seventeen years of never having a boyfriend, never being kissed or touched by the opposite sex, never finding anyone attractive that wasn't a rock star or movie actor…was I becoming desperate? I felt like it. I eyed my black hoodie lying on my bed.

I could try to ignore my feelings, repress them until they disappeared but I wasn't sure I wanted to. I wasn't even sure what my feelings _were_. If I was just lusting after Trevor then I would just have to get over that because there was no way I was going to sleep with him, I wasn't a varsity cheerleader. But if there was something deeper that I felt for him, something that was planted inside of me when I first asked him to bite me on the playground in kindergarten that has since grown into this super small, almost non-existent feeling, then it had to be shot in the face. Having a crush on Trevor Mitchell would just be a bad idea for two reasons.

One, I would be just like every other girl in the entire school which just doesn't work for me. If I was blonde, wore khakis and polos, and took baths in watermelon perfume then liking Trevor Mitchell wouldn't be a big deal. It was part of the package. But I wasn't like that. I wore black, worshipped vampires, and hung out in cemeteries. I hated sports and a fun time for me was ghost hunting. If I suddenly accepted my crush on him then I would just forever be disappointed because I wasn't his type and he would never actually want to date me unless, of course, I transformed myself into a Jennifer Warren, which was absolutely out of the question. Liking Trevor Mitchell would make me feel exactly how Jennifer Warren said I was. Out of his league.

The second reason why liking Trevor would be disastrous, besides the fact that he was a jerk and we always fought, was the sexual tension between us. While fighting could sometimes be fun, it could also turn dangerous. Take example, yesterday afternoon. It started out as our simple unfriendly bantering, perfectly normal for us but as soon as we touched, as soon as his arms were around me and his mouth was beside my ear, all I could think about was how good it felt. Which in fact, was _not_ good. If I suddenly decided to surrender to my feelings who knows how far I'd let Trevor go with me, and the fact that I _didn't_ know made me very worried.

Conclusion, liking Trevor was just not going to happen.

Sighing, I grabbed my baggy black hoodie from my bed and threw it over my head. Goodbye sexy, jaw-dropping Raven, see you never.

* * *

"You were so good at your soccer game last night," Becky said as she took a sip of her chocolate milk.

"We wouldn't have won if you weren't there to cheer me on," Matt replied, giving her a sweet kiss on her freckly cheek.

I looked away in order to not gag. Everyday at lunch was like a Cupid war-zone and I was the only one dodging the arrows. I don't know if it was skills or just fate.

"Aren't you dying in that hoodie Raven? I'm hot right now and I'm wearing a short sleeved shirt," Becky said concernedly.

_Hell yeah I'm dying_. "Nope, I'm just fine," I lied. The truth was, I could fill a pool with the amount of sweat dripping from my body. Wearing a hoodie today was a stupid idea.

"Hey Trev!" Matt suddenly called, waving his hand at someone behind me.

"Don't!" I pleaded, shaking my head at him but it was too late. I felt a hand on my shoulder but didn't dare look up. I just ignored him.

"What's up?" I heard him ask. His fingers squeezed my shoulder but I knew he was talking to Matt. I saw Becky's eyes staring at Trevor's hand curiously before looking questioningly at me. I tried to shrug his hand off but to no avail. "Hey Becky."

Becky's eyes left mine to look at Trevor in surprise. Even though she was dating Matt and was smitten, she couldn't ignore Trevor's 'sexy' waves. That's what I liked to call his power to make any girl within seeing distance of him drool all over her flowered blouse. "Hi Trevor, how are you?"

"Wonderful," he answered. I could hear the underlying meaning in his answer as he slid his hand down the back of my hoodie so he was touching the skin of my back. My sweaty back. I smirked, hoping he was grossed out and would go away. "I have a present for you Raven."

I quirked a pencil thin eyebrow at him. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise," he said, smirking. "If you come with me, I'll give it to you."

"Why can't you just give it to me now?" I asked.

"I don't have it with me," he responded.

"Where is it?"

"My locker."

I gave Becky a serious look. "If I'm not back in five minutes, come find me," I ordered as I stood up from my lunch seat and followed Trevor out of the lunchroom and down the empty hallway.

"You know I don't believe you," I told him, running forward so we were walking side by side. "You'd never waste you're mommy's money on little old me."

"Oh no, I didn't buy anything. It was actually a present for me, I just wanted to show you," he said. He was hiding something from me.

"Well, if I'm not getting anything then I'm just going back," I said, stopping and turning around. Trevor grabbed hold of my hand but instead of pulling me along, he just followed after me. I had to stop myself from curling my fingers around his hand.

"I promise I'll give you something Raven. Just come see it," he said. I stopped walking and turned around to look at him. His green eyes were pleading which was more than I could normally ask because Trevor never said please for anything.

I sighed. "Fine."

He smiled a perfect toothy smile and my heart unexpectedly began to beat fast and I felt the blood rush into my cheeks. Oh no, blushing and heightened heart rate were two symptoms of crushing. Trevor's warm hand clasped around mind wasn't helping matters either. I couldn't concentrate on where we were walking as he led me down the school hallways. All I could think about was how nice the warmth from his hand felt and how soft his skin was and I found myself wondering if he felt that soft _everywhere _which only made me blush more.

And then it hit me. I was letting Trevor Mitchell hold my hand and anyone could see if they were to walk by. "Let go of my hand."

"No."

"Let go of my hand, Trevor," I ordered through clenched teeth as I tried to wiggle my hand loose. His fingers were like an iron brace.

He didn't answer but rather grabbed hold of our conjoined hands so he could weave his fingers with mine before I could pull my hand away. I groaned. "Jerk," I muttered under my breath. His response was to lay a quick kiss on the back of my hand.

"Ok, now close your eyes," he said when we finally reached his locker, the uniform gray paint peeling off to reveal the gray of the metal beneath.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be stupid."

"Close your eyes or I'm not showing you."

Using my free hand, I laid it over my eyes and peeked through my fingers as he twisted the lock on his locker. There was a click and then he swung the door open. "Okay, you can look," he told me. I could hear the smile in his voice.

I dropped my hand and stared into his locker. There were four textbooks, a water bottle, some deodorant, and some crumpled sheets of notebook paper. It looked just like every one else's' locker and unless he considered a Chemistry textbook a present, then I was about to be disappointed. "Wow Trevor, I don't know how to thank you. This is awesome," I said dully, looking at him with an 'are you kidding me?' look.

"Here," he whispered softly, using his free hand and gently taking hold of my chin to turn my head towards his locker door. I gasped.

There, taped over the face of a Sports Illustrated blonde in a bikini, was a picture of Trevor and me kissing. There it was in front of me. My hands pinned behind my back, his sweaty chest pressed against mine, my head tilted upwards in welcome and our tongues tied. I briefly remembered a camera flashing nearby. All of a sudden, it was a million degrees hotter.

"What? Don't you like it?" he asked me, letting go of my chin and pointing to the picture. "Just look at us. We look like a couple in love, don't we?"

The thing was, we did. Even though I was Goth and he was the popular jock, we looked like a perfectly happy couple. The picture kind of reminded me of those pictures printed out that are placed in picture frames in the store. Even though I remember being mad after the kiss, I obviously wasn't during it. My eyes were closed and so were his as we kissed each other on the bleachers of his soccer game. We looked like to lovers embracing.

Not good.

"Where did you get that?" I demanded.

"Jennifer Warren was showing it off in class today. She was passing it around and I figured, because I was in it, that it belonged to me. Of course, she didn't object to me taking it, she'd give me anything." He smiled at me as if he was sharing some kind of a deep secret although it was common knowledge that Jennifer Warren _would_ do anything for Trevor.

"Well in that case, hand it over. I'm in this picture also, so I own half and I want my half," I said, holding out my hand. Trevor still had my other hand grasped tightly in his. I felt ridiculous fighting with him while holding his hand.

He frowned. "No way. I'm not giving this picture away to anyone." His jaw tensed when he said this.

Now I was curious. "Why not? This is perfect material to embarrass me with and you're not going to use it? That's not like you Trevor. It's like you're keeping this picture as a memento or something. If anyone sees this, they're going to assume that you have a crush on me."

His face tensed and his eyes hardened like a shield, making his expression guarded and hard to read. His lips were firmly closed and it seemed like forever passed as I waited for the response that never came. Sometimes, actions speak more than words and in this case his silence was telling me that he was definitely trying to hide something from me.

It was like a gunshot in my head, shocking my mind into action as it raced its way through all the possibilities and explanations for Trevor's silence. There was only one question that I had to ask and I was more scared than I thought I would ever be to ask it. The fact that I was scared of his answer just proved one thing…that regardless of my promise to myself and no matter how much I've tried to make myself feel otherwise, I still had a crush on Trevor and I wanted to know that he felt the same way. So asking him if he liked me or not could either backfire in my face, leaving me burned and scarred or it could lead to…what? I don't even know.

But I was never one to back down out of fear. I was brave and outgoing and that is exactly why I swallowed the lump in my throat, looked hard into his gorgeous green eyes, and asked him. "Do you like me Trevor?"

My heart was beating so fast that I could hear it pounding in my ears so loudly, I wasn't sure if I would even be able to hear him. I watched him intently as his face relaxed and he stepped forward. It was as if time was slowing down and I stood waiting for the graceful piano music to slowly fade in, for the lights to dim, and for our surroundings to change from the musty school hallway into a vast room filled to the brim with puffy clouds and sparkles. This moment had the potential to turn into the perfect romantic movie moment or the gushiest mushiest chapter from a romance novel where the dreamy boy confessed his undying love for the girl who had always thought he hated her.

He would say _Raven, you are the most beautiful girl in the entire universe, and I've loved you since the first time we met. _I would sigh, smitten, and he would envelop me in his strong arms and whisk me away on a magical unicorn to our palace of love. But just like in all fairy tales, there always has to be a villain. In my story, her name is Jennifer Warren.

"Oh…I've been looking all over the school for you Trevor…"

In a millisecond and again, showing those super human powers of his, Trevor let go of my hand, slammed closed his locker door, and stepped as far away from me as possible in one smooth step to turn around and smile at Jennifer Warren who had just walked around the corner, her mouth turned down in disapproval as she took in the sight of me and Trevor alone. Dressed in a khaki skirt, designer flats, and a princess powder pink polo, she stood like the cheerleader bubblegum princess she thought she was, a big fat cupcake held in her hand.

"Hey Jen," Trevor said, walking towards her like a panther. She smiled at Trevor and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, making sure to keep the cupcake out of his hair. She grinned at me snidely from over his shoulder. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy swell inside of me like a black storm cloud threatening to turn into an all-out hurricane, ready to destroy all that was Jennifer Warren in one gust of violent, raging wind. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing…I just came to give you this," she answered cheerfully, extending her skinny arm to hand him the cupcake. Trevor took it and swallowed it down shamelessly. "So…I couldn't help but to hear what you two were talking about earlier Trevor." She announced, glaring at me coldly. Trevor paused his licking the frosting from his fingers. "And you never answered Raven's question," she continued, looking away from me and at Trevor. "_Do_ you like her?"

Never in my life had I wanted to hurt someone so much. I wanted to tear her to shreds with my bare hands. The way she asked the question, just out of the blue as if it were a joke…it made me wild with rage.

Trevor shot me a look that I didn't quite understand and I just barely noticed the way his shoulders seemed to slump forward ever so slightly and his mouth turn down at the corners, barely visible. He looked back at Jennifer and smirked at her. "No way, that's just gross. Why would I like her when there're girls like you walking around?" He said, turning his back to me and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. My heart failed.

I wanted to run after the both of them and drop kick the back of their heads. I wanted to choke the life out of them until they were both blue in the face. I wanted to pull out their blonde hair and scar their perfectly tan skin. But as I watched them walk away together down the hallway, Trevor's arm across Jennifer's shoulder, looking like the perfect high school couple, the stereotypical supposed to be couple consisting of the beautiful cheerleader and the handsome jock, I couldn't help but to cry.

I turned around and ran as fast as I could out of the school, not caring if I got detention everyday for the rest of my school life because right now…I needed some Count Chocula, my Hello Batty blanket, and my mom.

* * *

I had lost track of time but I didn't care. Mom wasn't home when I ran into the house and so I had to wallow in my misery alone, beneath my blanket as I wailed my sorrows to the empty house. When my mom finally did get home, I had fallen asleep in my room, my black eyeliner smudged and smeared all over my face. When I awoke, it was because of the hard knocking on my door.

"Raven, Becky's here to see you," Billy Boy shouted through my door. "She's coming in."

I didn't roll over or greet her as I heard my bedroom door creak open and then shut. I didn't even acknowledge or give any sign that I was awake when I felt Becky sit beside me on the bed. "Raven?"

I grunted an incoherent response.

"I went looking for you after lunch but I couldn't find you and you weren't in fourth period…what happened?" she asked concernedly, placing her hand on my back.

I sighed. It wasn't her fault that I was in this state. She didn't make fun of me and then hit on me when other people weren't around. She didn't kiss me in front of the school and then pin the picture in her locker. She didn't lead me on to the point that I was crushing on her only to make me feel like an idiot by telling me I was gross and then walking off with a snobby varsity cheerleader.

No, Becky was _not_ Trevor and so I had no right to be mad at her.

"I'm going to murder Trevor Mitchell," I groaned, rolling over to look at her. Becky's strawberry blonde eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Trevor? What did he do this time?" she asked. She sounded exasperated, as if Trevor made me cry all the time or something.

"I…_can't_ tell you that," I admitted guiltily. I felt bad keeping secrets from my best friend but some stuff I just couldn't tell Becky…not now that she's dating Matt. If I told Becky how I felt about Trevor then she would most likely tell Matt and undoubtedly, Matt would tell Trevor and then my life would come to a complete halt. Game over.

"Why not? You can tell me anything Raven," she chided.

I shook my head and pursed my lips. She frowned at me and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine, don't tell me but your secrets are going to drive you nuts and you know it. And I know you're not going to talk to your mom about this."

"True."

"Then at least tell me the gist of it."

"You talk to Trevor right?" I asked.

"Sometimes. Not that much though, why?"

"Did he tell you what happened yesterday before the soccer game?"

"No."

"Well…he kind of sort of kissed me." I whispered. I could feel myself blushing just talking about it. Predictably, Becky gasped, her eyes widening in shock.

"He did?"

I nodded.

She didn't respond but rather looked away and began to giggle. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing it's just that…I could've been there to see it."

"You can. Jennifer Warren and her friend took a picture and Trevor has it hanging in his locker like a trophy. That's what he wanted to show me at lunch today," I told her, already feeling as if I've given away too much. Whatever.

"That's weird. Why would he keep a picture of you two in his locker?" Becky asked me, her eyes staring up at my ceiling as she tried to avoid making eye contact with me. I knew her better than anyone else and she only ever avoiding eye contact to look upwards when she was either lying or hiding something.

"Tell me," I ordered.

"Tell you what?" she asked too innocently.

"I thought you said I can tell you anything? I think that should apply to you also."

She sighed. "Ok, but if I tell you, promise me you won't let anyone, especially Matt, know that I told you."

I sat up and held out my pinky. "I solemnly swear on our friendship that I won't tell a living soul…"

Becky gave me a look.

"…or a dead one," I finished.

She linked her pinky with mine. "Good, because I wasn't even supposed to know. I was sort of eavesdropping at the time and heard Trevor and Matt talking after their soccer practice. I don't know how but suddenly your name came up and Matt asked Trevor if he still had a thing for you and Trevor kind of said yeah."

My heart almost stuttered to a stop. I shook my head in shock, my mouth agape like an idiot. "Can you repeat that one more time please? I don't think I heard you right."

"Raven…I'm sorry but, Trevor Mitchell has a crush on you."

**A/N: I love writing this fanfic. I don't know why…maybe because for once I'm not writing a Twilight fic haha and Raven has a lot more personality than Bella. Raven sees all sides of a situation unlike Bella who is just 'EDWARD, EDWARD, EDWARD'…I mean jeeze, I love Edward too but come on…shut up, seriously. Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW!!! When you review I feel the inspiration to WRITE FASTER!!!!!!!!! :D **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

What was I supposed to do? I knew that Trevor liked me, as confirmed by my trustworthy best friend Becky, so what was I expected to do about it? Go over and confess that I felt the same way? And what about yesterday when he told Jennifer that he didn't like me? Maybe he liked me before but is now over it? If that was the case, I couldn't admit to him or anyone else my feelings. I had to play it safe, test the waters for sharks because no one wants to be eaten alive.

I thought all of this over as I sat at the back of the classroom of my fourth period history class and stared at the back of Trevor's head who was two seats in front of me in the next row over, chatting animatedly to Matt who had just finished passing another note to Becky who was currently reading it as if it were a New York Time's Bestseller.

"Excuse me, class, if you'll please quiet down," requested Mrs. Turner from the front of the classroom. She was holding a stack of papers, which made me anxious. "I'm going to pass out the grading rubrics and instructions on your group projects."

The simultaneous groan from the class was perfectly timed and was quickly followed by the fierce scowl set into the wrinkled face of our graying schoolteacher as she passed out the papers. Heather Ryan raised her hand.

"Yes Ms. Ryan?"

"How many people are in a group?"

"Two, and I'm picking them for you."

Another groan and I felt my stomach drop. There was only one person in this class that I would ever be able to work well with while doing a group project and that was Becky and the chance that we would actually get paired together was slim. Very slim.

I grudgingly took the papers handed to me by Mrs. Turner and briefly scanned them. From what I could gather we were required to re-enact in a video or in class, an important event that affected our country. I sighed. This was a way harder project than I wanted.

"If you have any questions, speak to me after class. The instructions are pretty self-explanatory, I think. Now, I'll sort you into you're groups. Brittany Abbot, you're partnered with Fred Ackwood."

She went on and on, pairing students together. It was by the third pairing that I finally noticed the pattern. She was going down the class roster, pairing us alphabetically. My insides froze, as I looked frantically about the room trying to remember all of the students whose last names began with 'M'. There were three: me, Becky, and…Trevor.

Madison, Miller, Mitchell. I sighed in relief. If everything went right I'd be paired with either Becky or whoever was before me…at least it wouldn't be Trevor. I wasn't ready to deal with being alone with him yet.

"Raven Madison you'll be working with…" Mrs. Turner's eyebrows creased as she studied the list. "Trevor Mitchell. And Becky Miller, you'll be paired with Regina Nelson."

Trevor turned around in his seat and smirked at me triumphantly. My hand shot up into the air. "Mrs. Turner, I object."

She looked at me over her wire-rimmed spectacles, her face expressionless as if she didn't expect anything less from me. "I'm sorry Ms. Madison, but I'm not budging. You're working with who I assigned as your partner and that will be the end of it."

"That's fine but I'm not supposed to be working with Trevor, Regina is. Her name is next to his, not mine," I explained, hoping that she would apologize for her slip-up and change my partner.

"Ms. Madison, I'm sorry but no one else gets to choose their partners and neither do you. It shouldn't matter if I paired you with Trevor or Becky, either way you should accept the situation."

"But the thing is, I'd love to work with Becky," I pleaded. I almost stood up in my seat, I felt so determined to find a new partner, anyone else but Trevor.

"And that is exactly why I paired you with Mr. Mitchell. I want you to get some work done, not fooling around with your best friend." She glanced at me one last time before she continued pairing up the rest of the class. I groaned dramatically and dropped my head into my arms. This was going to be a nightmare. It wasn't that I didn't want to work with Trevor because I didn't like him because that was a complete lie. But seriously, it was going to be so awkward now that I knew how he feels about me or at least once felt. Then again, this could be the perfect chance for me to discover how he feels now.

"Ok, please move so you and your partner can work together for the remainder of the period," ordered Mrs. Turner. I glanced at the clock. The rest of the period was ten minutes.

"Hello partner," Trevor greeted like a cowboy as he slid into the desk next to mine. Seeming unhappy with the whole two feet of empty space between us, he picked his desk up and moved it until it was adjacent to mine, the legs of his chair screeching uncomfortably across the beige tiled floor. I folded my arms across my chest and grimaced at him although on the inside, I was shaking with anxiety.

"Go ask Mrs. Turner for a different partner, she likes you," I ordered. Even though I said it and half meant it, the thought of losing this chance to spend time with Trevor made me regret my words a little.

His green eyes seemed to darken a little and his smirk faltered the tiniest bit but besides that, his face remained smug and of course, oh so gorgeous. "But I don't want a different partner Raven." The words rolled off his tongue like a practiced line repeated just the right amount of times until he could pronounce each word perfectly to achieve the desired affect in the girl it was aimed towards, that girl right now being me. And the thing was, it did work. His words planted butterflies in my stomach and I suddenly felt as if I was on a roller coaster and that at any moment, we'd take a wrong turn or a sudden unexpected plunge and I'd puke my guts out all over my desk.

I threw up words instead. "Bull-freakin-crap Trevor." I was through with his lies, with him leading me on. Every time I looked at him I remembered what he had said to Jennifer Warren yesterday and the raging dragon inside of me awoke and breathed fire, igniting every fiber of my being with a fiery inextinguishable anger.

I heard him sigh beside me but I didn't look at him to read his expression because I was too busy trying to focus on what Heather Ryan was saying to Mrs. Turner at the front of the classroom.

"…please. You know how much Trevor and Raven fight and I really don't think it's very fair to pair them together. Brian," she pointed to the short fat, glasses wearing nerd sitting in the corner reading a manual on Dungeons and Dragons. "He would be more than willing to work with Raven. I don't mind working with Trevor, we get along great."

I couldn't believe my ears or my eyes as I watched Mrs. Turner actually consider what Heather Ryan had said while just a few minutes ago, she hadn't budged the least for me. It was so unfair. She opened her wrinkled, maroon painted mouth. "Trevor Mitchell, come here please."

"I miss you already," he whispered to me before standing up from his desk and walking to where Mrs. Turner was seated with Heather. Inside, I was in turmoil. Heather's face brightened visibly as he approached them and a sudden wave of jealousy hit me full force and I knew that regardless about my previous thoughts, no matter the fact that I liked Trevor and he made me nervous, no matter what he had said about me yesterday, and no matter the fact that working with him would be near impossible there was one thing I was suddenly certain of and it took me seeing Heather's fake tanned face smiling toothily at Trevor for me to realize it. _He's my partner and she can't have him._

I stood from my desk and made my way towards them, listening to their conversation as I waited for the right moment to make my entrance and pounce.

Mrs. Turner gestured towards Heather as she looked up at Trevor who was standing in front of her desk, his arms crossed over his chest and a resigned look on his face. He wasn't smirking. "I've changed you're partner. You'll now be working with Ms. Ryan here, she says you two are friends so it shouldn't be a problem."

I saw Trevor go rigid as his eyes darted to Heather's smiling face and he grinned half-heartedly at her but his smile didn't reach his eyes. That was my cue. In two strides, I darted forward and latched my hand onto the soft fabric of Trevor's blue sweater, pulling his sleeve like a leash.

"No way, I think Heather should just 'accept the situation' and go back to her own partner because Trevor is _mine_," I growled, glaring at Heather. My words wiped the smile off of her face and I knew she understood the double meaning behind my declaration and couldn't wait to go running to Jennifer Warren after the bell rang to tell her how I had just hinted my feelings for Trevor. Great.

"I guess I'm taken. Sorry Heather," Trevor said not sounding sorry at all as he stretched his arm across my shoulders and lead us away.

"Whatever," I heard her grunt but I didn't pay any more attention to her because the bell had just rung and I was wrestling my way through the clumps of conjoined desks to retrieve my stuff, losing Trevor along the way. As I rushed out of the classroom, one of the last ones out, I smacked right into someone on my way out the door.

I blinked away the stars and shook my head. Trevor was standing there, waiting; our project papers clenched in one hand and his other hand now on my shoulder. "Hey."

"Hi," I said curtly, instantly feeling like a jerk for being so brash.

Trevor held up the papers. "I have soccer practice almost every night during the week so the only time we'll have to work on this is over the weekend meaning tomorrow and Sunday. So what time will you be over at my house?"

I rolled my eyes. "Who said I was going to sacrifice my weekend to spend time with you?"

He smirked, of course. It was our little game and he enjoyed every second of it and the thing was…so did I. To anyone else, it sounded as if we loathed each other but it was an unspoken secret between Trevor and I. Fighting was our way of telling each other how we really felt without all the awkwardness. We both knew how to read between the lines.

"Of course you want to spend time with me, why else would you yank me out of Heather Ryan's oh so willing clutches? If Mrs. Turner wasn't there you probably would've clawed her face off," he murmured, stepping closer to me and twirling a strand of my hair between his fingers. I swallowed the lump in my throat that was blocking anything witty from making it's way out of my mouth. I didn't know what to say.

He dropped his gaze so that he was looking down and my heart began beating nervously as he stepped even closer to me. I could feel his breath falling softly on the skin of my exposed collarbone. "This is pretty," he said softly, bringing his fingers up to toy with my black lace choker, his fingers tickling the skin on my neck. I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end.

"Th-thanks," I stuttered stupidly, blushing as his eyes darted back to mine. I looked away. Why did I have to act like a stupid crushing girl all of a sudden just because of what Becky said? Usually, I'd slap his hand away and stomp on his foot, cursing him to the grave for his touchiness or I'd kick his shins and stick out my tongue like a three year old. I wondered what he was thinking as he witnessed my sudden change in attitude towards him. _Did_ he notice? I hoped not.

"If I say please, if I beg, will you come over tomorrow?" he asked me, tauntingly.

I cleared my throat and glanced up at him. His face seemed a little flushed. "What time?" I asked, defeated. I just couldn't compete with his unfair provocations.

"Eleven," he said.

"One." I countered.

"Twelve, and not a second later but feel free to come anytime before that. Maybe we can have breakfast together," he suggested, grinning. I tried my hardest not to smile even though the invite made me happier than I liked to admit.

"I might take you up on that offer. Do you guys have any Count Chocula?"

He frowned. "No, all we have is Cinnamon Toast Crunch."

I shook my head. "Never mind then. I don't eat anything but Count Chocula and Cinnamon Toast Crunch just doesn't cut it for me."

"Actually…I think we do have some, hidden in a dark corner somewhere. It shouldn't be a problem, I'll give you all the Count Chocula you want."

I actually smiled and he seemed taken aback for a moment. "Ok, then I'll be there bright and early with a heaping load of books so we can get started on our research. It's going to be oodles of fun," I said sarcastically, turning on my heel and walking away.

The moment I was out the door, I set off at a run to find Becky's truck. I needed to get home as soon as possible so I could begin planning an outfit for tomorrow.

* * *

"Raven!"

I groaned. "What?!" I called, hoping my dad could hear me through my closed bedroom door. I was digging through my drawers looking for my lacy black v-neck dress. The one negative thing about only ever wearing black was that it was almost impossible to distinguish one clothing article from the other in a packed drawer like mine making getting dressed a really drawn out experience.

"I need you to run an errand for me!"

"What?!"

"Come here!"

I whipped open my door and dashed downstairs, avoiding stepping on all of Billy Boy's nerdy gadgets littering the stairs. Breaking my neck definitely was not on my list of things to do at the moment. I found dad in the living room on the computer, scanning a web page of complicated graphs and tables, the glowing screen reflected in the small rectangular panes of his glasses.

"Huh?" I asked warily.

"I need you to pick up something for dinner at the store real fast. I have to catch up on some work so I don't have time to make anything extravagant for dinner tonight," he muttered, not taking his eyes off of the computer.

"Where's mom?" I groaned.

"At a meeting."

"I'm not hungry."

"I am and so is your brother so you're going. My keys are on the counter," he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a twenty. "Here, and don't blow it all on candy."

I took the twenty and pocketed it. I'd find the cheapest TV dinner in the store and then spend the remainder eighteen dollars on myself. I think that's a fair trade for making me run his errands. I snatched up dad's car keys and floored it to the Go-Go-Grocery. I was definitely going to make this fast because I had a killer outfit to plan.

I scanned the glass-door covered freezers, my finger poised thoughtfully on my lip as I argued with myself Kid Cuisine or Smart Choice? I weighed the pros and cons of each. Kid Cuisine cost slightly more but came with a brownie so even if I had less money for candy, I'd still have the brownie wouldn't I? But if I did get Kid Cuisine, Billy Boy might be offended and dad would probably need two of them just for himself, so I wouldn't end up saving anything. The Smart Choice on the other hand cost a meager ninety-nine cents meaning I'd spend a total of two dollars but unfortunately, there was nothing even close to what Billy Boy would normally consider appetizing. After a couple more minutes of weighing my choices, I finally decided to get two Kid Cuisines for me and Billy and a Smart Choice for my dad. The total came to four dollars and thirty-eight cents leaving me plenty for candy.

As I loaded my shopping basket with individually wrapped sugary delights, I heard the squeak of crooked shopping-cart wheels coming from behind me and I casually turned around to find Mrs. Mitchell, pushing her loaded cart down the isle towards me, oblivious to my staring. Not wanting an awkward encounter, I hurriedly made my way towards the opposite end of the isle but stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed a can display blocking the end of the isle leaving me with no choice but to turn around.

Mrs. Mitchell was dressed to the nines in glossy black stilettos, a black designer pantsuit, and an expensive leather handbag hanging from her arm. Her nails were polished a fiery red and her Prada sunglasses were sitting atop her blonde head. As I approached her I prayed that she would remain too busy studying the different brands of cookies and chips to notice me but as usual, being the 'eye sore' that I was, it was almost impossible to _not_ see me.

"Oh, Raven. I didn't notice you earlier," she lied, flashing me a forced grin. "How are you?"

"I'm okay. How's…" I wracked my brains trying to remember any family members of hers besides Trevor that I could pretend to be concerned about. I came up with nothing and asking about her husband just seemed nosy, but it was too late now, I had to say something. "…Trevor?"

She raised a pencil drawn eyebrow at me curiously. "Don't you just see him today?"

"Uhh…but it's been a couple hours. You never know…" I improvised stupidly, avoiding her condescending gaze.

"Trevor tells me you're coming over tomorrow morning. Hopefully he'll clean his room because it's a complete mess," she muttered, reaching into her bag and pulling out her ringing phone. "Hello?"

I stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot, not sure if it would be rude to leave or not. I decided to pretend to be shopping while she finished talking.

"What is it Trevor?"

My ears perked up instantly.

"…no…no…yes, ok. Oh, wait, before you go, what was the name of that cereal that you wanted me to pick up?...okay…I'll be home soon. Love you Trevy," she cooed before flipping closed her phone with an audible click. _Trevy?_ I filed it away in my head for future reference.

"Raven, what isle is the cereal?" she asked me as if I worked here, which slightly irked me. I turned around to face her.

"Umm…isle five I think," I answered, pointing past her through the packed shelves. She sighed and turned her cart around.

"Seriously, since when does he eat Count Chocula anyways?" she muttered under her breath. I smiled in disbelief. Trevor was serious about having me over for breakfast. The thought created a weird stirring in my chest. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow Raven. Say hi to your parents for me."

"Bye Mrs. Mitchell. Send Trevor my love," I called as we went our separate ways. I clenched my jaw. I probably should not have said that but then again…why not?

It was about time for me to be sending the mixed messages and I was going to enjoy every moment of it over a giant free bowl of Count Chocula.

**A/N: OKAY. Now that all that is over with I can finally start getting to the hot stuff. I really don't want to rush this story, which I often find myself doing…I want to take this slow because I really don't think Trevor and Raven are just going to hop into bed together next chapter, in fact, I KNOW they're not. I'm truly sorry…really because believe it or not…lemons are my favorite thing to write. Did I ever mention I was a perv? Hahahaha PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I was pulling out all the stops the next morning, as I got dressed. I ran my hands down the curve of my hips as I pulled slightly on the lacy hem of my black, v-neck dress, which only came down to my mid-thighs. My long white legs were peeking from beneath it and I had debated with myself whether to wear tights or not but judging by the unbearably hot weather today, I decided against it. I wore the sexiest underwear that I owned, my black lace panties and matching push-up bra from Victoria Secret, because it was a known fact that wearing sexy underwear gave every girl a confidence boost.

My cleavage was just enough that it wasn't trashy and my hair went un-straightened so that it fell in soft waves and curls over my shoulders. I applied my makeup differently also by only putting on some light black eye-liner and mascara, leaving my full cherry lips naked and popping against the contrast of my white skin. I had to admit, I looked like a knockout.

Picking up my bottle of my 'Temptress' perfume, I sprayed myself down so that I now smelled like a garden of roses and then I ran downstairs to announce that I was leaving.

"You're not going anywhere dressed like that," dad said, eyeing my outfit with a sour look.

I frowned. "It's for a school project." While my outfit wasn't exactly necessary for the completion of the project, it was definitely necessary for my plan on making Trevor jealous. "You don't want me to fail, do you?"

Dad looked at mom desperately. "Raven, at least put on some leggings or a cardigan. It's a school project, not a school dance."

I rolled my eyes and dashed back up to my room and threw on a cardigan. As soon as I left the house, I'd take it off. "Happy?" I asked, twirling around in the living room to show off my conservative cardigan.

"No, I'd much rather you wear some baggy jeans and a turtleneck but I guess that it's better than what you were wearing before," dad muttered, shaking his head.

Sighing, I grabbed my black backpack and made my way to the front door before my parents could say anything else. "Raven, wait." I froze, my hand falling away from the door handle as I turned around to face my mom. "Where exactly are you going?"

Of course she had to ask the one question I didn't want to answer. "To work on a school project." I answered, trying my best to beat around the bush.

"Yes, I know, but where?"

"My partner's house."

My mom rolled her eyes and shook her head. "And who is your partner?"

"…Trevor," I replied, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

"Mitchell?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, well in that case, you can take my car," she said, walking into the kitchen and coming back with her car keys. I gave her a questioning look.

"You never let me drive your car," I said in surprise.

She gave me an apologetic look. "Just be careful. Who knows what the Mitchell's would think if you showed up to their house on a bike."

I glared at her. Of course she'd only give me the keys to her car to impress the Mitchell's, not because it was a million degrees outside and she cared about the well being of her only daughter. It annoyed me how much my parents were just like the kids at school, always caring about impressing others and ignoring what was really important. If it wasn't so hot outside today, I would've thrown the keys on the counter and rode Billy's bike over to Trevor's but that not being the case, I climbed into mom's shiny car and drove out of our suburban neighborhood to Trevor's house, the air conditioner blasting.

* * *

As I pulled into Trevor's long winding driveway, I suddenly felt extremely nervous. I gripped the steering wheel tightly and eyed his house anxiously. It was humungous. It wasn't any secret that the Mitchell's were one of the richest families in Dullsville but seeing their gigantic, red brick, country styled mansion with it's gated front yard and Olympic sized swimming pool out back always managed to make me feel inferior. I had only ever been to the Mitchell's house once before and that was when I was in kindergarten and Trevor had invited me over for his birthday party. Then, his house seemed like a magical castle but now…it just seemed intimidating.

I peeled off my cardigan and threw it into the back seat and then climbed out of the car, slamming the door closed behind me. As I walked up the stairs leading to his front door, I combed my fingers through my hair and fixed my dress. I had to remember my mission and appearing nervous was not going to accomplish anything.

With a shaky finger, I pushed his doorbell and listened to it chime musically through his house. I waited for a couple of seconds and then the doorknob rattled and then the door swung open to reveal Trevor, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and standing in only his boxers. I instantly blushed and looked over his head at the crystal chandelier hanging in his foyer.

"Raven?" he asked in disbelief. His voice sounded heavy with sleep. "What are you doing here?"

Against my will, or maybe not, I looked at him. "We have a project to work on today or did you forget about it?" I asked feeling a little hurt that he had forgotten about me coming over.

He smirked. "No, I didn't forget. I just didn't think you'd actually come over for breakfast. What a pleasant surprise. You just couldn't wait to see me, could you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Can I come in? It's freakin hot out here," I complained stepping into his house as he held open the door. I looked around his foyer, trying to take in all the extravagance while trying to appear unimpressed. I heard the door click closed behind me. "So…"

I felt a little awkward standing in his house while he was behind me in only his boxers. Every time I looked at him my face would heat up and he would have to be blind to not notice. "Can you go put some clothes on?" I asked in exasperation, glancing at his toned stomach quickly. He really was gorgeous. I felt like I had just walked into a Calvin Klein commercial.

He ran his hand lazily through his golden blonde hair as his eyes traveled slowly down my body, taking in my tight lace dress and smooth legs. I felt a little uneasy. What if I wasn't as hot as I thought? Would my attempt at impressing him fall short and make me just look desperate? The thought made me blush even more as he continued to intensely gaze at me.

"Why should I put clothes on?" he asked quietly, stepping forward towards me with a ravenous look on his face. With every step he took towards me, I took one step back until my back was pressed up against a wall. I looked around nervously for a door that I could run through. Nothing.

Trevor stopped a mere inch away from me and I pressed my back further into the wall hoping that I could sink through it like a ghost and escape. My breathing was becoming ragged and I turned my head away from him so I didn't have to look into his eyes. "It's not fair that I should have to put clothes on while you can just walk around here half naked Raven," he whispered into my ear. I turned my head sharply and glared at him with fire in my eyes.

"You jerk," I growled. I didn't have enough swing room for an effective punch so I hurriedly pressed the palms of my hands against his chest and tried with as much strength as I had, to push him away. He didn't budge an inch but that didn't stop me from trying. What did stop me was when he grabbed hold of both my wrists and pinned my arms above my head.

"No need to get violent Raven, I never said I didn't like what you're wearing or rather, _not_ wearing," he said, smirking.

"Screw you," I spat realizing too late that my words, combined with the compromising position we were now in, were a mistake.

"My pleasure," he murmured and before I could stop him he had pressed his body flush against mine, and released my hands so he could trail his slowly up my thighs and beneath the hem of my dress to rest on my hips. The way he had me pinned against the wall with his body made it almost impossible for me to think about anything else but the heat from his skin and the way his hard body felt pressed against mine. He nuzzled the side of my neck and bit it softly with his teeth and I cried out in surprise.

"Do you like that Raven?" he asked raggedly, pushing his hips forward against mine.

"N-no," I groaned.

"Liar," he breathed, nipping me on the neck again. I couldn't hold back my gasp of pleasure or the wave of heat that crashed through my body as his tongue began to lick and suck the skin on my neck. Against my will, my arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.

I had never felt anything like it before in my life. My entire body was tingling with heat, the center of it all concentrated somewhere in my lower stomach. It was a pleasurable warmth that took control of all my limbs and my mind so that I had no control over my actions. All I could do was succumb.

"Tre…vor," I moaned, letting my head fall back against his wall as he continued to kiss my neck with his soft lips. My lips kept repeating his name silently as I wove my fingers through his thick hair enjoying the softness against the back of my fingers. "Tr---

"Trevor, is Raven here?"

My eyes snapped open in surprise as Mrs. Mitchell's voice traveled from somewhere in the next room. The moment ruined by the arrival of his mother, Trevor sighed and pulled away from me. I quickly pulled down the hem of my dress and tried my best to fix my hair, all the while glancing shyly at Trevor who walked into the room beside the foyer. I could hear him and his mother talking quietly to each other.

As I waited for him to return, I walked over to the large gold-framed mirror hanging on the wall across from me and examined my appearance. My pupils were dilated and my cheeks were flushed a light pink. My hair was a little messy and I had the beginnings of what I could only assume was a hickey on the side of my neck. Brushing some of my hair forward, I tried my best to cover up the light pink mark.

I frowned. Things were not going as planned. How was I supposed to make Trevor jealous so he would admit that he liked me if all I was doing was allowing him to use me just as Jennifer Warren had said? Maybe I was just 'another piece of ass' to him. The thought filled me with so much sadness that I almost began to tear up right in his foyer but I also felt equally as angry for allowing myself to be used so easily. No matter what my feelings for Trevor were and no matter how much I enjoyed the feeling of his touch, I could not allow myself to be used by him again until I knew how he felt about me for sure.

With a newfound determination, I planted a confident smirk on my face and turned around to watch as Trevor strutted back into the foyer, seemingly annoyed. "Mom says we can go work in the kitchen."

I shrugged my shoulders and followed him into the room leading from the foyer into the spacious kitchen where his mother was standing behind a marble counter, reading a gossip magazine. "Hello Raven," she said coolly, giving me a derisive look before flipping the page of her magazine.

"Hello Mrs. Mitchell," I said self-consciously, unsure why she was being so distant towards me. "Thanks for letting me come over."

She smirked and I realized for the first time just how similar Trevor looked compared to his mother. "You're welcome. Trevor seems to enjoy your company especially well I've noticed," she commented casually, sending Trevor a stern glare before tossing her magazine into the garbage and walking passed us. "I'll be in the living room so don't be up to anything you shouldn't be."

"What was that all about?" I asked Trevor as he walked over to his pantry and pulled out a box of Count Chocula. The weird stirring in my chest that I had felt yesterday at the grocery store came up again as he poured me and himself a bowl of my favorite cereal and placed it in front of me.

He sat down on a bar stool and I took the one next to him as we each ate a spoonful of our cereal. "She's mad at me," he said, dropping his spoon into his bowl and rubbing his eyes.

"Why?"

He looked at me and smiled. "She saw us."

I froze mid chew and stared at him. I replayed the entire scene in my head as if watching through his mother's eyes. I would be in my kitchen, reading my gossip magazine, enjoying my quiet morning when all of a sudden I hear the voices of my only son and a teenage girl in the foyer. I assume it must be Raven and so I make my way into the foyer to greet her, a smile plastered on my face. And then I see them. My only son in just his boxers, pressing his hips into the half-exposed, indecently dressed Goth girl. His hands are in places that they shouldn't be and the girl is obviously enjoying every second of it because she's moaning his name shamelessly into the air as he kisses her neck. Not being able to see my innocent son doing such awful things, I storm back into the kitchen and call his name, hopefully destroying their little moment of teenage lust. End of vision.

I swallow my mouthful of cereal and bury my heated face in my arms. "Oh no."

"What's the big deal? She's not mad at you, she's mad at me," Trevor said from beside me.

I shook my head. "It's just so…so…embarrassing," I half cried.

"Why is it embarrassing? Who cares what she thinks," he muttered resentfully. I looked up to see him glaring out of the kitchen windows, his eyes angrier than what the situation called for. Instinct told me that his anger towards his mother ran deeper than he was letting on. "If it were anyone else…"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He looked at me and his anger suddenly vanished and was replaced by a deep longing. "Don't worry about it. She won't change."

I frowned, unconvinced. "I don't want your mom to dislike me Trevor." It was true. Before I had discovered my feelings for Trevor, I could've cared less about what his parents thought of me but now…now, it was different.

Trevor avoided my eyes. "Whatever. Let's get going on this project already."

I sat up in my chair. "Crap. I forgot my stuff in the car," I remembered suddenly, thinking of my black backpack. "I'll go get it."

"Fine," he sighed, slipping out of his chair and following after me.

The late morning sun was high in the sky and the blast of heat that hit me as soon as I opened his front door instantly produced small beads of sweat on my forehead. I ran down the front stairs of his patio and unlocked my mom's car. Trevor rested on the side of it while I dug through the back seat for my backpack.

"I didn't know you had a car," he commented.

"I don't. It's my mom's," I grunted, throwing my cardigan into the front seat and pulling out my backpack. "She let me borrow it."

"Why? You don't live that far away. Why drive?" he asked curiously. I slammed closed the door and locked the car, glaring at its silvery paint.

"She wanted to impress your parents," I answered brusquely, my eyes leaving the car to look at him. He was frowning and his eyes seemed troubled again. "You know, make a good impression on the 'rich folk' because no one is ever good enough the way they are, are they Trevor?"

I didn't wait to see if he understood the double meaning behind my words, the sharp stab that I mercilessly used on him, as I turned around and stormed back up his driveway.

"Raven, wait!" he called. I didn't answer.

"Raven…" His voice was closer to my back now but I didn't pay any attention as I cut a short cut across his lawn. "I said wait!" he shouted and the next thing I knew, his arms were wrapped around my waist and we were falling to the ground. Trevor Mitchell had just tackled me from behind.

I let out a girly squeal as he rolled us so that he was beneath me on his back with my back pressed against his naked chest. I had to squint from the glare of the sun that was now directly in front of my face. With my butt now resting on his pelvis, my back instinctively arched against him and my dress rode so far up my legs that it probably looked to anyone watching that I was just wearing a shirt. I scrambled to pull it down. "Let. Go."

"Are you going to run away?"

"…no."

"Promise?"

"Yes, now let go," I growled.

The moment his arms fell from my body, I was up and dashing across his front lawn, around the side of his house and into his backyard. I looked behind me to see him smirking at me with a mischievous look on his face. He knew I was going to run and he was going to enjoy every second of my punishment. My face broke out into an exhilarated smile. I winked at him once and then dashed away across his back yard as he chased after me.

I felt like a kid again. It was just like when we were in kindergarten and Trevor would chase after me in the playground after I stole his cookies that his mom always packed in his lunch box. The wind blowing through my hair and the sound of my feet falling lightly on the grass made me feel like I was flying and as I neared his swimming pool, I glanced behind me quickly to see how far I had run from Trevor. I gasped. He was closing in on me, and fast.

I skirted around the edge of the pool but had to stop when I noticed him mirroring me from the opposite edge. Every move I made, he'd make the same one. I was trapped. If I dashed to the left, I'd run into the brick wall of his house but if I dashed to the right, he was sure to catch me with his superior athletic skills. There was only one thing to do.

I ran down the edge of the pool towards him and he ran right at me like a raging bull. It was only a matter of moments and we'd collide. I had to time it perfectly. He grinned wickedly at me and just before his arms could reach me, I dodged to the right and he skidded to a halt and as soon as he twisted around to grab for me again, I stretched out my leg and kicked him into the swimming pool.

There was a resounding splash followed by the loud echoing of my victorious laughter. "Score one for Raven, score zero for---AHHHH!"

I hit the water sideways and I swallowed a mouthful of chlorinated pool water in shock, coughing as I came up for air. Trevor had pulled me in by my ankle while I was busy laughing at him. He played so dirty.

"Jerk," I sputtered, wiping my soaking wet hair off of my face. He smiled at me charmingly and blew me a kiss before shaking his wet hair and spraying me with a shower of tiny water droplets. I laughed but then stopped when he began to sing the theme from 'Jaws'. "Stay away," I warned, kicking my legs in an effort to stay away from him as he began to slowly circle around me in the pool, singing the song quietly under his breath. My heart began to race with adrenaline as his intense gaze followed me around the pool. With ever stroke, he came closer to me and then he disappeared beneath the water.

I followed the distorted shape of him beneath the water's surface as he swam beneath my feet. I knew what was coming next and I took a deep gulp of air right before he pulled me beneath the surface by my ankle. I forced my eyes open beneath the water and watched as he swam up in front of me looking more like a mermaid than anything else. I almost smiled but covered my mouth with my hand to keep the air from escaping.

His golden hair was floating around his face like a halo and the blue tint from the water cast an unearthly feel to the entire picture. The sun dancing on the surface of the water had somehow got caught in his hair as it shone with flakes of gold and honey. His green eyes stared intently into mine and my heartbeat picked up again.

I couldn't hold it in any longer and I smiled at him, releasing all the air from inside my lungs. I began to kick my way to the surface but a firm hand wrapped around my wrist and I was pulled towards Trevor. I shook my head frantically at him and pointed to the surface and then at my mouth and he smiled. Was he going to drown me?

Just before I could throw a fit, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him beneath the water and then firmly pressed his lips to mine, prying my closed mouth open with his tongue and then he did the most unexpected thing. He blew air into my mouth. My lungs filled with air and I was overcome with relief.

He pulled away to look at me and then I did something stupid. I opened my mouth and gurgled 'thanks'; effectively releasing all of the air he had just given me. He rolled his eyes and pulled me to the surface. I inhaled deeply as soon as our heads broke the surface of the water.

"Good job," he snorted, splashing me with a wave of water. "Score two for Trevor, score one for Raven."

I wiped the water out of my eyes and sighed. So much for attempting to look hot for Trevor now that my eyeliner was all but washed off and my hair looked like crap. More like score three for Trevor. "This is my favorite dress Trevor," I whined. I suddenly felt like complaining because, to be honest, having such innocent fun with Trevor felt a little…scary.

"I'll buy you a new one," he promised, swimming over to me and grabbing hold of my arms. "Tomorrow, we'll go to the mall together," he proposed casually as he wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled us around the pool. The stirring in my chest started up again and I blushed.

"I don't need your charity. I can buy my own clothes," I murmured.

"It's not a hand-out, it's a present. I'll buy you a new dress and you can buy me some new boxers," he said, grinning down at me. My mouth fell open.

"I am _not_ buying you underwear. That's just weird," I choked out.

"Fine. If you won't buy me underwear then you have to let me buy you a new dress _and_ whatever else I want to buy you _and_ you have to wear it for me. Deal?"

I shook my head. "What kind of a deal is that? That's just stupid. You'll pick something pink or…white and I _hate_ polo's, you know that."

He nodded. "I'm not buying you anything like that, I swear. You'll like it, I think…"

"You think?"

"Well, there's always the small chance that you may feel a little uncomfortable wearing it in front of me…but don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to get over your shyness," he said, grinning at me knowingly. There was a strange glint in his eye and I didn't even want to know what he was thinking.

"What is it?" I asked warily.

"I'm not telling you because you'll get mad."

"Then I'll just get mad tomorrow too," I argued. "Why does it make any difference if you tell me now or later?"

"Because I don't want to ruin today," he admitted quietly. I looked away from him. We continued to swim lazily around the pool in a comfortable silence and I began to hum the theme song to the Addams Family under my breath as I let my eyes fall closed and enjoyed the feel of the sun on my skin and the cool water flowing over my body.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked finally, breaking the silence.

"Huh?"

"You've hardly said one mean thing to me today. It's not like you," I said, opening my eyes and looking up at him. "You've even called me by my name."

He stopped swimming and he looked down at me cautiously. "You're right, maybe I'm sick."

I shook my head in frustration. "Whatever," I sighed, giving up. I couldn't force him to tell me about his strange mood swings. We weren't that close, no matter how much I wished otherwise. "We need to do this project, not wasting our time doing this," I muttered, pulling away from him and climbing the steps out of the pool.

"Doing what?" he asked, following behind me.

As I climbed out of the pool, I looked back at him. "I don't know, you tell me."

He looked up at the sky and smiled to himself. "I don't know what you're doing Monster Girl but I know what I'm doing."

"And what would that be?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"It's a secret," he replied, glancing at me sideways. I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the pool.

"You and your stupid secrets. Becky told me that if you keep your secrets bottled inside, you'll explode and die," I told him sincerely.

"Do you believe everything Becky says?"

His eyes locked onto mine and my heart stuttered. "I want to."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Then you should."

"I should believe her?"

"Do you want to?"

"Yeah."

"Then do it. I've spent most of my life doing things that I don't want to because that was what other people wanted me to do but I'm tired of it, Raven. Believe what you want and do what you want, screw everyone else," he said heatedly. I smiled at him.

"I already do," I admitted honestly. I was always different, the outcast, the one who went against the mold, and yet, I didn't care. I was happy with who I was and I wasn't going to change for anyone.

Trevor's eyes darkened and he stepped towards me and brushed some water off of my cheek with the back of his fingers. "And that's exactly why I've always---

"Trevor!"

He closed his eyes and sighed. "She has the _worst_ timing," he muttered to himself before turning to face his mother who had just turned the corner of the house, her hand held to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. She looked worried.

"There you two are! I wondered where you had gone to!" she called, walking towards us. I blushed and wrapped my arms tighter around me self-consciously as her calculating eyes took in my skin tight, soaking wet dress and Trevor's almost see through boxers. The entire time we had been together, I hadn't allowed my eyes to travel any lower than his shoulders. "Well, what have you two been up to?"

"We fell into the pool," Trevor replied calmly. "It's not a big deal mom."

"Right. Well, your father will be home in a couple of hours and I've already called to tell him that Raven is over. Don't be up to anything while I'm gone," she warned, sending Trevor a look loaded with some unspoken subject that they had undoubtedly discussed before. My curiosity piqued. "I'll be back this evening. I have a dinner date with Mrs. Warren. I'll tell Jennifer you said hi."

"But I didn't say 'hi'," Trevor spat, his face screwing up in anger. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Just the other day he was all over Jennifer, why would he be so angry now?

"She's a nice girl Trevor," Mrs. Mitchell scolded tiredly as if this argument had been brought up so many times that it was beginning to feel monotonous.

"No, she's a _rich_ girl," he retorted.

"Well she's a lot better than…" Mrs. Mitchell's eyes quickly darted to me, so fast that I may have imagined it. I frowned.

"Let's go work on our project Trevor," I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the house. This conversation was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable. He didn't budge.

"Better than who mom?"

I froze but didn't turn around. I could almost feel Mrs. Mitchell's eyes boring into the back of my head. "I'll be back later. Call me if you need me," Mrs. Mitchell said. I released Trevor's arm and walked into his house. I was too upset to look at him. Why did Mrs. Mitchell dislike me so much?

I heard the glass door slide closed behind me. "Raven…I…I don't…" he stammered. I turned around and smiled at him.

"Don't worry about it, let's just get this project done already."

"Sure but I'm going to change first," he said, walking past me and climbing the stairs. He stopped halfway up them and looked down at me, his eyes roving over my skintight, soaking wet dress. He smirked. "I have some clothes you can borrow while your dress dries. I'd let you borrow some of my moms but…I don't know if that would go over too well," he said apologetically.

"Okay," I agreed, running up the stairs after him.

His bedroom was like a model room from a Rooms-to-Go commercial with it's blue painted walls, fancy lighting, sports trophies, and sports themed furniture. I sat down on his soccer ball patterned comforter and watched him dig through his dresser drawers. I hoped he didn't care that I was completely soaking his bed. "Nice room," I teased.

"It's not my fault, I didn't decorate it," he replied defensively, throwing a white cotton t-shirt and some black soccer shorts to me.

"Your mom?" I guessed.

"Of course," he replied.

"Your mom's a control freak isn't she?"

"You have no idea. I'm surprised I'm allowed to dress myself," he admitted, throwing on a blue t-shirt to my slight disappointment. Goodbye eye-candy.

"Do you have a bathroom I can change in?" I asked, looking at the many doors in his room. One of them had to be a bathroom.

"Why? You can change right here," he said. "I promise I won't do anything but watch."

I sneered at him. "Please, why do you have to be such a pervert?"

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Perverts get off on anyone though, don't they? I, on the other hand…" he trailed off suggestively. I glared at him.

"Did you know that every time you make fun of me, lead me on, or lie to me, a kitten dies?" I said stormily. "There're a lot of dead kittens in this world, Trevor."

He rolled is eyes. "I don't make fun of you _that_ much."

"Yes you do _and_ you…" I snapped my mouth shut and looked at the carpet. It was too soon to be having this conversation.

"I what?"

"Forget it. Where's your bathroom?"

"No, finish what you were going to say Raven."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No!" I shouted, standing up and grabbing the shorts and t-shirt. "If you're not going to tell me where your bathroom is then I'm just going to find it myself." I said, stepping towards his bedroom door, but as soon as I had finished my sentence, Trevor had already intercepted my path and had pushed me back onto his bed.

"Tell me, Raven," he said again, hovering over me, his face inches from mine. I looked up at him angrily. There was something desperate in the way he was looking at me as if my answer was something he had been waiting to hear for his entire life. I began to feel a little dizzy.

"It doesn't matter Trevor now let me up," I sighed, covering my face with my hands and closing my eyes. I suddenly felt very tired.

"It matters to me…" he whispered, pulling my hands away from my face and wrapping my arms around his neck. His fingers began to play with the ends of my wet hair.

"How can it possibly matter to you? You don't even know what I was going to say." He trailed his thumb across the bottom of my lip and I turned my head away from him before I fell into the same state I was in earlier that morning. I had to resist him.

"Everything you have to say is important to me, Raven," he sighed.

I couldn't look at him. What kind of a game was he trying to play? Was this how he managed to get between the legs of all those girls? I was so confused. Had I inadvertently fallen into his trap and didn't realize it until it was too late? Was his mother warning me earlier? Was she telling Trevor not to use me like he had all those other girls, to not hurt me? Did he play with my emotions so I would fall for him? There was no way Trevor really felt anything for me. I was a challenge for him, the ultimate challenge; I was the unreachable Goth girl. I felt like such an idiot. Why did it hurt so much to want him? I couldn't take it anymore.

The tears came like a flash flood and there was nothing I could do to hide them. I hated myself for being so naïve. I really wasn't anything but a piece of ass and the fact that Trevor could speak so nicely to me when we were alone but was a complete jerk to me when others were around only proved that all the more. How blind could I possibly be?

"Get off!" I cried, unwrapping my arms from his neck and trying to push him away. I couldn't even see his face through my waterfall of tears.

"Raven? What did I do?" he asked, trying his best to pin down my arms.

I shook my head and continued to fruitlessly push against him. "Please…just get off of me Trevor."

The bed creaked as he climbed off and I sat up to bury my face in my hands. My tears wouldn't stop and I tried my best to muffle my cries.

"Raven…please stop crying," he pleaded, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"Where's your bathroom Trevor?" I asked, exhaling heavily and wiping at my swollen eyes.

He pointed to the door at my right. His expression appeared confused and upset but I didn't think much of it as I marched into the bathroom and slammed closed the door. I slowly peeled off my dress and slipped into his soccer shorts and t-shirt. You could easily make out the outline of my black bra through the white t-shirt and the shorts were hanging off of my hips but I didn't care. I turned on the hot tap water and washed the rest of my makeup off of my face and dried it on a towel.

I looked like a train wreck.

How was I supposed to face Trevor? I couldn't even look at him without crying. I shook my head. Why did I like him in the first place? A guy like that wasn't even worth it…why did I think that somewhere inside he was different? He didn't do anything but be himself…it was my fault for hoping in the first place.

It was time to get over Trevor.

I walked back into his room. Trevor was lying back on his bed, his arms crossed over his face, frowning.

"Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what I did but if I could take it back, I would. I hate seeing you cry…"

"Knock it off Trevor."

He sat up and swung his legs off the side of his bed. "What did I do Raven? I didn't do a thing but touch you."

I was through with it. If he wanted to know how much of a jerk he was then I was going to tell him. I was going to make him feel like one. I was done trying to stifle my feelings. To hell with all of it.

"That's just it isn't it Trevor? That's all it ever is with you. I understand that I'm not exactly perfect or rich but that doesn't mean you can start messing with me. You're not that great yourself," I spat. I was shaking with anger.

He stood up. "What do you mean messing with you? You know I don't mean any of that crap I say to you at school. I'd never actually think that about you Raven."

I shook my head to fight back the tears that were threatening to well up again. "Can you stop? Please? It's hard enough without you always lying to me Trevor. I'm _not_ going to sleep with you so just stop it," I begged, wiping at my eyes to push away any stray tears. My mouth was quivering and I had to bite down on my lip to stop it.

"What does sleeping with me have to do with anything?" he asked angrily. "When did I tell you that I wanted to sleep with you?"

"You don't have to say anything! It's the way you speak to me when we're alone. Just like today and at school. You're nice to me until someone else comes and then you're a complete jerk! I don't know if you think it's funny but it hurts Trevor because believe it or not, I have feelings and you just keep trampling all over them! If you're looking for someone to screw then go talk to Jennifer Warren, at least she's not 'gross', right?" I asked snidely, sending him a wounded look.

His jaw tensed and he looked at me as if I had just slapped him in the face. His silence was deafening. It was all just an affirmation that everything I had said was right. He really was just using me.

"I…don't know what you want me to say Raven. I told you I was sorry," he said quietly.

I stepped towards him so I could look up into his face. "I don't care anymore Trevor. You can say your sorry all you want, you can go screw your cheerleader girlfriend, you can point and laugh at me in front of the entire soccer team but I don't care. I can't believe I actually believed that you…you…"

The tears were blinding me again and I lost sight of his face. They burned my skin as they fell down my face and I sobbed brokenly in front of him. I felt so pathetic.

I had to tell him. I couldn't leave him without telling him the extent of the pain he had caused me. "You…you actually had me believing for a while that you cared about me in some screwed up way. I'm stupid right? I mean look at me…" I wiped my tears away and looked up at him with blurred eyes. "What in the world made me think that you could possibly like me at all?"

He reached towards me and I stepped away from him and shook my head. "But I did, or at least I hoped that you liked me…and you want to know why Trevor?"

"Why Raven?" he asked quietly.

My heart thudded against my chest painfully and I felt like my ribs were about to explode from my violent sobbing. "Because I actually have feelings for you. The weird, creepy, _Monster Girl_, had developed feelings for you Trevor all based on your lies."

I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders and after a few more minutes of silence between us with the only sound being my quiet sniffling, I finally was able to wipe away the last of my tears. I looked up.

Trevor was gone.

"Jerk," I muttered under my breath. I suddenly felt exhausted from all my crying and his bed was looking very welcoming. Checking his room to make sure he wasn't hiding anywhere, I crawled onto his bed and collapsed in a tired heap onto his pillow. My eyelids fluttered closed and in a matter of seconds, I had dozed off.

* * *

There was something brushing across my forehead when I awoke an hour later. My eyes felt as if they had been glued shut and I hastily rubbed away the sleep to clear them. When I finally managed to pen my eyes I saw Trevor lying beside me with his eyes closed and his fingers playing with the ends of my hair.

"What are you doing?" I asked, checking myself to make sure I was still wearing clothes. I felt a little uneasy waking up in his room. His eyes slowly opened to look at me. He wasn't smiling.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, sitting up so that he was now resting on his elbow and looking down into my face.

"Tired," I told him honestly.

"Are you still angry with me?" he asked cautiously.

I looked past him at the ceiling behind his head and then shook my head. "Not really as mad as I was before, but I am still mad at you. I guess I was kind of in the moment or something…I can get really dramatic. Mom thinks I should be an actress."

"I think you're the only girl in the world that can still look pretty when crying," he said, smiling at me.

"I thought I told you to stop that Trevor," I sighed warily.

"Stop what?"

"Stop pretending to be nice to me. You're not getting in my pants, end of story."

"I'm not pretending. Why don't you believe me?" he asked sadly.

"So what are you saying? That you're being nice to me just because…what? What reason could you possibly have to be nice to me?" I asked him intently.

He sighed. "You're never going to believe me, even if I tell you."

"Try me."

He looked at me for a good while before burying his head in the side of my neck. I could feel his hot breath on the side of my neck. "Remember when you said that you believed that I had feelings for you?"

My heart rate jumped. "Yes."

"You were right," he whispered in my ear. I shivered. He pulled back to look into my eyes and I could see them burning with sincerity. "Please believe me Raven."

I looked away from him. Did I doubt him again because of my insecurities? I wished I could read minds. "I…don't know Trevor. I want to believe you but…"

His eyes sparked. "I'll make you a promise to prove to you that I'm telling you the truth and I'm not saying all of this just to get into your pants."

"Okay."

"I promise that I won't touch you or kiss you again until you want me to. I swear it," he whispered.

I shook my head. "That's not fair."

He frowned. "Why?"

I smirked at him. "Because I always want you to kiss me Trevor."

He smiled. "That is unfair isn't it?"

His words died away slowly as I trailed my fingers tentatively through his hair, twirling the ends between my fingers. I felt the shape of his ears and trailed my fingers slowly down his jaw and then to his lips. I outlined the small pout of his bottom lip tenderly, my eyes following the path of my fingers. His lips parted and I looked into his eyes. "Promise me just one thing Trevor."

"Anything," he murmured softly.

"Never hurt me."

"I promise."

"Good." I tangled my fingers in his hair as he slowly bent down, his face hovering less than an inch from mine. I could feel his hot breath blowing across my lips and my mouth suddenly became wet. "I want you to kiss me Trevor."

He bent down, closing the small distance between us, and pressed his lips to mine gently. It was different than any of the other kisses we had shared before. This one meant something; it was symbolic of our feelings for each other. I could feel it coursing through me, this warmth, spreading from my heart and shaking my body with its passion. His lips caressed mine softly, prolonging the feeling of just being close and together. I parted my lips slowly and he slid his tongue into my mouth to taste me. His tongue was hot and smooth against mine, our saliva mixing with the others as our kiss heated into something more. He sucked lightly on my lower lip and I moaned into his mouth, the sound filling the room with an eroticism neither of us had predicted. All too quickly the atmosphere changed and our innocent kiss had turned into something terrifying.

Trevor was the first to break away from the kiss and when I finally came back to my senses it was to find both of my legs wrapped tightly around his hips and my fingers tucked beneath the waistband of his boxers. I smiled up at him shyly.

"Maybe it's not me we should be worried about," Trevor breathed, smiling down at me.

"I think that maybe…you're right."

**A/N: This has so far been the longest chapter that I have ever written in any of my stories. I thought I'd never finish…I like it though. Sexual tension is such a fun thing to play around with. PLEASE REVIEW!!!! TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS!!!!!!! PLEEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE!!!!! :D I hope you guys liked it! This is NOT the end, just so you know…I have a lot more I'm going to write for this story haha**


	5. Chapter 5

I couldn't believe this was actually happening. Never in all of my life did I ever imagine going shopping with Trevor Mitchell, of all people. Even now, I felt like it was a big joke, but as I watched him pull up to the end of my street in his shiny car, it all became too real. Of course, he wasn't meeting me at my house. My parents would ask unnecessary questions.

"How much?" He asked as he rolled down the dark tinted window and leaned out to eye me hungrily. I sneered at him.

"Not for sale, loser." I walked brusquely around the front of his car and casually climbed into the passenger seat. I ignored him as I snapped on my seat belt.

"What if I give you a kiss?" I didn't even get the chance to draw breath before his lips were softly pressed against the side of my neck, slowly trailing upwards in a line of chaste butterfly kisses to my ear. "Can I have you then?"

A strange twisting began to knot relentlessly in my stomach and my heart began to race. I looked over at him and lifted a pencil thin eyebrow. "It depends…" I trailed of teasingly.

"On?" He prodded. His green eyes sparked with mischief.

"Whether I think it's a good kiss or not," I challenged, smirking.

"You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Madison," he whispered under his breath as he slowly began to close the distance between us. "But I think I can afford it."

He hovered in front of my mouth tauntingly, his warm breath blowing softly against my parted lips before the tip of his tongue peeked out to draw a wet trail across my bottom lip before sliding silkily along the crease of my lips. I hear a soft click and the next thing I know, Trevor has me pinned against the inside of the car door, one hand sliding up to tangle in my hair and the other coming to slide up my thigh. His tongue pushes forcefully into my open mouth and I gasp at the sudden intrusion, but welcome it all the same. Our heads bobbed back and forth as we pulled our mouths away and returned them to each other, our lips sliding over the other's softly.

My eyes snapped open in shock when I heard him moan. A second later, my brother rode past us on his bike, his eyes bugging out of his head and his mouth agape like he was trying to catch flies. I pushed Trevor away with as much force as possible and then tucked my head between my knees to hide, even though I knew it was useless.

Billy Boy totally just saw me sucking face with Trevor Mitchell.

"What are you doing?"

"Hiding."

"From who?"

"My brother," I groaned. "He saw us."

"So? What's the big deal?"

"He's going to tell my parents." I complained. I peeked back up at Trevor when I heard the car engine rev before we took off down the road. He was smirking.

"And what exactly is he going to tell your parents Raven?" I could tell he was looking for a specific answer, but I had no idea in the world what it was.

I sat up fully in the car seat and allowed my head to fall back onto the expensive leather headrest. "You know what he's going to tell them, dummy."

"No, I have no clue actually. What could he possibly tell your parents Raven?" Trevor looked over at me with an innocent expression on his face, but I didn't fall for it. He was playing dumb on purpose. "Were we doing something we shouldn't have?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, we were just making out." Even though I tried my best not to, I still blushed. Saying it was just too embarrassing. Trevor laughed and I glared at him angrily. He loved torturing me.

It was a little while after we left Dullsville city limits that I brought up the one question that had been tormenting me since yesterday afternoon. I looked down at my knees and began to play with the hem of my black dress. "Hey, Trevor?"

"Hmm?"

"Uh…I have a question," I announced, taking my eyes off of my knees and gluing them to his face. He was watching the road intently but I could tell he was listening.

"Ask away Monster Girl." It was the same nickname as always but this time it was said differently, almost as if it were an endearment. How cute.

"So, you like me." It was a statement.

"I do?"

I growled in anger. "You said you did yesterday you jerk!" I punched him in the arm and he held up his hand in surrender, keeping the other on the wheel.

"I'm joking! Calm down!" He laughed.

"Ok. Well, I like you."

"You do?"

I raise my fist again but he waved it away again and laughed. "Okay, so what's your question?"

I took a deep breath. Here it goes. "So, what exactly are we?" God, my heart was pounding a million times an hour I was scared it was going to turn my ribcage to dust.

"Well, I know _I'm_ human…" He started laughing before he could even finish his sentence. I shook my head.

"You're killing me Trevor."

"So that's how you kill a vampire," he said in false awe.

I didn't even respond I was so annoyed. I'd never known someone to dodge a subject so much as he did. I didn't think I could ever build up the courage to ask him again either. "Forget it." When he didn't respond, I looked out the window to finally take notice of the changing scenery. Where the heck were we going? "Trevor, where the heck are we going?"

"The mall."

"Yeah, but why did you pull off the main road?"

"Cause getting out of the car on the highway is dangerous."

"We're getting out?" I asked curiously as we rolled to a stop. The main road was just a couple of yards behind us but the small cluster of trees here offered us some privacy. "Why?"

"I want to ask you something."

I cautiously stepped out of the car and instantly had to shield my overly sensitive eyes from the glaring sun shining through the trees, right onto my face. I was going to melt.

"Why are you standing right in the sun? I thought you hated it?" Trevor asked, grabbing hold of my pale hand and dragging me beneath the shade of a nearby tree. "I stopped here for you cause there would be shade."

My heart warmed a little at his thoughtfulness but I was a little anxious about how nice he was suddenly being. This was so unlike him. "You're scaring me, and I don't get scared easily Trevor."

"I'm about to scare you even more then," he warned. He dragged me until we were completely beneath the shade of a tall oak tree, the wind blowing gently through the branches, making the leaves rustle softly above us. Trevor squeezed my hand one time before turning around to face me, a strange sparkle in his almond shaped eyes.

He didn't say a single word as he bent down onto his knee in front of me, and neither did I. I was speechless. I was nervous. I was shocked. I was confused. And most of all, I was scared. Very, very, scared. "…what?"

"Raven Madison, I've known you since we were just small children chasing each other around the playground. For as long as I can remember, our relationship has involved nothing but fighting. I thought you hated me, and I thought I hated you," he said. His face was so serious and my heart was pounding so hard I could barely make out his words over the thumping in my ears. He was not about to ask what I thought he was about to ask. No way. "It was sometime in high school when I realized that I admired you. You're confidence, your individuality, and your strength to stand up to everyone who tried to put you down. I began to have feelings for you, and since then, those feelings have grown so strong that I don't know if I can hold myself back from you anymore."

He cleared his throat and I locked my knees to keep myself from collapsing. _Please don't ask what I think you're going to ask Trevor. Please. We're too young. _

"Raven Madison?"

"…" I couldn't even form intelligible words. "…mmm?"

"Will you…" he was drawing it out and with every second that passed by, I was that much closer to passing out. I was going to die. "…be my girlfriend?"

"…"

His face broke out into a huge smile, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. His trick had worked. He scared the crap out of me. I still didn't know if I could speak. My face must've looked hilarious.

"Score one for Trevor, score zero for Raven."

That did it. "Jerk."

He stood up from his knee, but didn't let go of my hand. "I got you there, didn't I? With the sappy speech and everything. I bet you thought I was going to ask you to marry me, didn't you?"

I sneered at him and pulled my hand out of his. "You're a jerk Trevor."

His smile weakened. "Come on. It wasn't that big of a deal."

I turned my back to him and stomped back towards the car. I was pissed. I couldn't believe I actually believed that. I was such an idiot. I could hear him following behind me but I continued to ignore him. When I got to the car, I opened the passenger door a crack right before Trevor's hands shot out to slam it shut, one hand on either side of my head. I was trapped between the car and Trevor's rock hard body pressed right into my back. There was no escape, but I was sure as hell not turning around.

"Go away Trevor."

"Stop being mad Raven."

"No."

I watched as he pulled one hand away from the car. Seconds later, his arm was wrapped tightly around my waist from behind, hugging me to him, his chin resting on my shoulder. "Please?" He whispered.

"No."

His fingers pressed themselves into my stomach as he pulled me farther into him so that my butt was right up against his groin. My fingers curled around the door handle of the car and my other hand came to wrap around the hand that Trevor had over my stomach. "If I bite your neck, will you forgive me?" He asked quietly, grazing his perfect teeth over the exposed skin on my neck. I shivered.

"Maybe…" I wasn't really going to, I just wanted him to bite me. "Maybe not."

He laughed. "I love it when you tease me Raven," he said, just before he bit down on my skin. I didn't even try to muffle my moan as the blunt edges of his teeth bit into my skin. My knees buckled and Trevor tightened his hold on my waist to support me.

There was no blood involved and I knew I wasn't about to turn into a beautiful creature of the night, but it felt absolutely amazing. Trevor wasn't a vampire, but he sure could bite like one. My mind went completely dizzy and I felt as if I were about to collapse right there in his arms. I was trembling.

"Damn it." He muttered under his breath, pulling away from me. My eyes shot open in surprise and I twisted around to look at him.

"What's wrong?" His breathing was heavy and his face was a little flushed.

He shook his head once and sighed. "Nothing. Let's go."

Oh no. Now he was mad at me. We both remained silent as we climbed back into the car. Trevor turned the air conditioning on full blast as we sped off down the road towards the mall. My arms tingled as tiny goose bumps raised themselves on my arms and legs. It was freezing. "Did I do something? I'm the one that should be mad."

"I'm not mad." His face was still a little pink, but I could tell he was calmer.

"Then what happened back there?"

"Umm…you were kinda moaning," he mumbled. "….a lot."

Now it was my turn to blush. I remember moaning once, but not moaning _a lot_. I must've blanked out. "Sorry."

From my peripheral I could see him shake his head. "Don't _ever_ apologize for that Raven."

"Well you obviously had a problem with it, otherwise you wouldn't of stopped," I countered heatedly. I was a little angry our fun was cut short. I was enjoying myself quite a lot, so much so that I had _almost_ forgotten how I was supposed to be angry with him.

I was looking right at him now. All the color had fully returned to his face, no more pink, and he was looking as cocky as ever. "Do you _really_ want to know why I had to stop?" He looked over at me. It was a challenge.

"I do."

"Are you completely sure about that? I can promise you that you'll get embarrassed."

"I doubt that highly."

"Actually…I think I'll just wait. I'd rather _show_ you instead. It's more fun that way."

"Then show me now." I demanded. I was so ridiculously curious.

His cheeks turned pink again. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not in the mood."

"Then get in the mood."

His eyebrows rose and disappeared beneath the overhang of golden blonde hair on his forehead. "Raven…you have _no_ idea what you're asking, do you?" His fingers twisted around the steering wheel as he looked over at me.

"Of course I do," I lied. I felt so dumb.

He snickered. "Right." End of conversation. He wasn't going to tell me what I did. How annoying.

"I want you to tell me." I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed like a spoiled child who was just denied a toy.

"Maybe later. It's a little early in our relationship…which reminds me, you never answered my question," he said suddenly.

"What question?" I asked stupidly.

"About being my girlfriend."

"Oh, _that_." I spat out the last word like it was dirt on my tongue. "Sorry, I got a little sidetracked." I said accusingly, glaring at him.

"Well, what's your answer?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

We were pulling into Hipsterville now and coming up to a stoplight. I could feel the car slow as we approached, but my heartbeat was getting faster and faster with every passing second. "Umm…are you sure Trevor? I mean, it is _me_ you're asking." I felt so insecure still. Jennifer Warren's words were constantly floating around in my head ever since the soccer game. What if I wasn't his type?

"Yes, I'm positive." His voice was so sure, so confident, and he said it with absolutely no hesitation, just complete fervor.

"You're sure you won't be emb---

"Raven! I _want to be with you!_" He shouted, interrupting me. It took me by such surprise that I was leaning against the opposite side of the car, away from him. My mouth was even hanging open a little like an idiot.

I nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" I could tell he was getting frustrated.

I swallowed. "I want to be with you too."

He shook his head. "I want you to say it Raven."

"Say what?" He sent me a loaded glare. Oh. "I…uh…I want to be your girlfriend, Trevor."

It was beautiful, his smile. It wasn't until much later that I realized that it was me that had made him smile like that. He was like the poster boy of pure happiness. My heart melted right there in my chest. I swear my heartstrings were directly attached to my mouth because every time my heart swelled with happiness, I'd smile. They went hand in hand.

"Thank God," he sighed. He sounded so relieved. A second went by before I realized that his hands were no longer on the steering wheel, but cupping each side of my face, pulling me closer to him. I tried to pull away, but it was hard to resist.

"Trevor, grab the wheel," I pleaded. I really didn't want to die right now, no matter how tragically romantic it would be.

"Don't worry, it's in park," he muttered softly, just before he pressed his lips to mine. It was a long kiss, but soft. Gentle. I was in bliss. Even when the honking of other cars behind us filled the air, it didn't ruin our moment. It was as if time had stopped in this small compact car. Everything outside was moving past, traveling forward, but Trevor and me were suspended in time, in the middle of all this traffic, the only thing moving being our lips and our hearts.

* * *

"Remember, no khakis or polos. You promised." I reminded him as we entered into the main entrance of Hipsterville's mall. It was huge.

"I wouldn't even want to buy those things for you," he said, glancing around and looking at all of the different stores.

"Is that sarcasm?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm dead serious."

I quirked an eyebrow. "But I thought you loved that preppy crap?"

"Not on you I don't," he admitted. I was actually surprised.

"Why?"

"Because you wear stuff like this," he whispered in my ear, tugging on the hem of my short black dress. When he released it, it bounced up, revealing way too much of my white thigh. "It's hot."

I smiled to myself. He thought I was hot. Store by store passed by as we made our way through the mall. We didn't enter even one. "Aren't we going in any of the stores? I want to go to Hot Gothic."

"Yeah, I'm just looking for something."

"Like what?"

"Your present. I told you yesterday I'd get you one."

"Oh yeah. The one I'm supposed to get angry about, right?"

He smiled. "Yeah, that one." He stopped dead in his tracks then took a sharp left towards a small, narrow store with hot pink wallpaper and glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There were mannequins all over the place, none of them having heads, just heavily endowed chests and curvy hips. The entire store was filled to the brim with lace, ribbons, and silk.

It was a lingerie store.

"No." I said, stopping just outside its entrance.

Trevor turned on his heel and smirked. "Yes."

"No."

"You don't have to wear it, I just want to buy it for you." His eyes were pleading with me and my determination waned a little.

"Why?"

"Because I think you'll like it. I know it's weird for me to be doing this, but you really don't have to wear it if you don't want to. I was going to get it for you during a more special occasion but I don't know if it'll be here anymore."

I couldn't believe this was happening. Just minutes ago I was officially his girlfriend and now we were buying provocative underwear together. He seemed so obstinate about it though. Fine. If he _had_ to buy it for me, I'd let him. He'll just never see me wearing it. Ever. "Whatever. I'm not trying it on though."

He smiled. "You don't have to. I'm sure it'll fit."

I leaned against the entrance to the store and waited for him. I wasn't stepping one booted foot inside. I didn't even want to look at what he was about to buy me. Although I wasn't going to go inside, that didn't stop me from listening. I couldn't help myself.

"How may I help you today sir?" I heard the store's clerk ask kindly.

"I was in here last week and I saw…that one. I'd like to buy it." Trevor said excitedly.

"The black lacy one?"

Black lacy one? Oh dear God.

"Yeah, with the silk ribbon."

Ribbon?

"Are you sure about that one? We just received a new one yesterday that isn't as transparent," I heard the clerk's woman say.

Transparent?!

"No, I like the transparent one. It'll look good on her."

This was bad. Whatever he was buying for me, it was black, lacy, transparent, and had silk ribbons. Bad. My heart began to beat like a jackhammer. I heard the chime of the cash register as the drawer opened and then the clerk kindly thanked Trevor. Seconds later he walked out, a small pink bag held in his hand.

I glared heated sharp daggers at him.

"I refuse to wear that."

"I told you that you didn't have to." He said, holding out the bag for me to take. I took it as if it were a dirty diaper.

"Aren't you going to look at it?" he asked excitedly.

"Not right now."

"Are you mad?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "I figured. It's really not that big of a deal. I know it's a lot of money to spend on just one small thing but I really thought you'd like it."

Money? The price didn't even cross my mind. "I'm not mad about the price."

He looked surprised. "You're not?"

"No. I'm mad that you would even buy me something so…so…revealing." I stuttered on the word. I still couldn't believe I was holding lacy lingerie in my hands. The hottest underwear I owned didn't even come close to this.

Trevor laughed. "I didn't know you were so funny. Come on, let's go to that freaky Goth store you were dying to go to," he said, grabbing hold of my hand and lacing his fingers through mine. My heart fluttered.

As we made our way through the mall, I began to notice the curious stares we were getting. "People are staring at us."

"No, they're staring at you."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's us." I said, tugging at our hands to emphasize my point. "We don't exactly look like we're a compatible couple."

He smirked. "Maybe I should start wearing black lipstick?"

I frowned. "Please don't. That would look so bad on you."

"I'm offended." He said in mock astonishment.

"Good. Because it would."

"Which makes me wonder…why have you suddenly stopped wearing _your_ black lipstick?"

I felt my face heat. "It gets kind of messy…you know, it smudges easily and gets all over my face."

"You mean when I kiss you?" He said bluntly.

"Yep."

"I like that reason."

"You would."

I saw Hot Gothic up ahead of us; it's black wrought iron gates opened wide invitingly. I began to walk faster, tugging Trevor along behind me. It was the only store in this mall that I had any interest in going. I was going on a shopping spree. I need a new black dress, some tights, some new shoes, a coffin book bag, some eyeliner, a new necklace, and some hair accessories. I was going all out.

I stopped just before I reached the entrance and turned to face Trevor. "You don't have to come in, you know?"

His eyes were studying the black and red interior of the store intently but he didn't look scared, as I've seen others look before when gazing into the dark store. He just looked curious. "No, I'll go in. It's just a store."

"Are you sure? You might get bitten," I warned teasingly.

"If it's by you, then I don't mind," he responded, grinning.

"Keep dreaming, _Trevy_," I said, using the nickname I heard his mom use the other night at the grocery store. His eyes narrowed menacingly at me but I ran into the store before he could scold me.

I was in Gothic heaven where everything I touched was black. I made sure I saw everything in the store as I made my way through it. I didn't want to miss a thing. After about fifteen minutes, my arms were full with every type of black clothing article imaginable and I was walking behind a clerk to go into the fitting room and try all of it on.

Trevor was waiting by the dressing room door, his arms folded over his chest as he watched me walk happily towards him. "You're gonna try on all of that?"

"You know it." I answered delightedly as the clerk opened the door for me. "I'll just be a second."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'll just wait right here."

One shirt after the other fit like a glove. My pile of things I was going to definitely buy just kept growing. I don't think there was one thing that I tried on that didn't fit. I was having so much fun, until I got to a black corseted dress that I just couldn't zip past half way.

"Trevor, could you get the clerk for me?" I asked, opening the door and sticking my head out. Trevor was leaning against the opposite wall looking super bored.

"Why?" he yawned.

"I need help zipping my dress."

His eyes glinted. "I'll do it." Before I could open my mouth to protest, he had pushed us both back into the dressing room. I sighed. I wasn't in the mood to fight about it right now.

He trailed his finger down the ridge of my spine and I shivered. "Can you just zip it please?" I snapped. I watched him in the mirror as he chuckled. One hand clenched the bottom of the dress while his other hand pulled up on the zipper. I felt the corset tighten as the zipper close but when he got to my ribcage, there was just a whole lot of tugging. "What's wrong? Is it stuck?"

"No, it's not the zipper, I think it's you."

I gawked at him. "There's no way. This is a medium. There's no way I've gained weight."

His eyes looked at me in the mirror and then they fell to my chest. "I don't think it's your weight that's the problem," he said, still staring at my chest. "It's your…uh…"

"I get it. You can stop staring now you pervert," I growled, crossing my arms over my chest and grasping my shoulders. Because the corset wasn't zipped up all the way yet, the top was loose and drooping forward a little, giving Trevor a way too good view of my cleavage.

"Don't call me a pervert. You call me that too much, it's starting to get on my nerves," he muttered, his eyes leaving my chest to look into mine. I watched silently as he bended his head down to lay a soft kiss on my exposed shoulder. "I don't call you a pervert when I see you gawking at me without a shirt on." He smiled.

I gasped. "I do not gawk at you."

"Right." His overconfidence was irking but was so like him. He'd always been like that. I was about to push him out of the dressing room but when I turned around he was in the middle of pulling off his shirt. I was stunned speechless.

"What are you doing?" I breathed, stepping away from him.

"No touching." He replied, smirking. I frowned.

"Like I want to." I sneered.

"Don't you?" he asked, stepping closer to me. I was trapped.

I couldn't look into his face. Instead I just glued my eyes to the floor and watched his shoes step closer and closer to me. I could feel all the blood rush into my cheeks and my chest heaved with my heavy breathing. Like I said before, Trevor was gorgeous. Almost too gorgeous. And we were alone, in a small dressing room, and he had no shirt on. It was enough to make a girl hyperventilate.

"I mean, you know I can't keep my hands off of you," he said quietly, trailing one of his hands down my arm. His touch sent a million tingles running through my body. "But you never seem to want to touch me. Do you even feel anything for me at all?"

I looked up into his face. He looked so vulnerable, something I'd never expected to see from him. I didn't even know insecurity was in Trevor Mitchell's vocabulary. How could he think that though? Did he really think that I didn't want him?

"I do…" I mumbled.

"Then how come you always get mad when I touch you? Or push me away?"

I shook my head. I didn't want to tell him the real reason. The reason that I always had to pull away from him was because his touch drove me crazy and he made my body feel strange. I was scared of what would happen if I didn't stop him. I'd have to tell him the condensed version. "It's because…I want you _too_ much."

"You do?"

I nodded.

"Then why hold back? If you want me, take me Raven," he whispered in my ear. I was pinned between his chest and the wall. My hands had somehow found their way to his rock hard stomach, my palms pressed against his hot skin.

"No, I can't."

"Why not?" he groaned, pressing his pelvis forward against me. A strange twisting wound it's way in my stomach making my insides quiver.

"Because…because…_we're in a dressing room_," I growled. "And…"

"And?" he probed.

"I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't until I was sure about something."

"And what would that be?" he asked, pulling back to look into my face.

I took a deep breath to steady my heart. "I want to fall in love with you first."

His brow creased as if he were confused as he studied my face. I really hoped he wasn't disappointed though, because I wasn't going to budge. I wasn't sleeping with someone I didn't love.

"You're different." He finally said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're different from other girls."

I rolled my eyes and released a little laugh. "You just now figured that out?"

He shook his head but didn't smile. He was serious. "I've never been with a girl before that has denied me."

My heart panged. "Well I'm not going to say sorry."

"I never want you to."

"Good."

He smiled. "Good." He leaned in for a kiss but stopped a hairsbreadth away from my mouth. "I have a question."

"Hm?"

"You only said that you have to fall in love with me, but do I have to fall for you?"

I pulled my head back so I could think. "Umm…you don't have to."

"But what if I want to?"

My head whirled at even the thought. "Then do it."

"I think I will," he murmured, reclosing the distance between us.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

"Are you alright in there?"

Trevor pulled away quickly and threw on his shirt, glancing nervously at the dressing room door. We could see the store clerk's feet standing on the other side.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be out in just a second," I told her.

"Okay."

I waited until I could no longer see her feet before looking back at Trevor. "You have to get out before she sees you."

He rolled his eyes. "Please hurry up. I'm hungry."

As soon as the dressing room door closed after him, I pulled off the bad-fitting dress, and pulled on my own, finally feeling comfortable now that I was back in my own clothes. Grabbing the pile that I was going to buy, I finally left the small dressing room.

"You're really gonna buy all of that?" Trevor asked me. "Don't you think you have enough black?"

"That's impossible." I responded, spilling everything onto the counter.

The same lady that had let me into the dressing room rang me up. She kept eyeing Trevor and me curiously, but didn't say anything. "You're total is $143.78."

Trevor whistled from beside me. "Wow, that's almost as much as I spent on your present."

"You would never spend that much on me Trevor." I said as I handed a wad of cash to the woman.

"But I did," he said, holding up the small pink bag for everyone to see. The woman's eyes widened after reading the name scrawled across the glossy bag.

"Is he your boyfriend?" she asked me as she handed me my change.

"Yep." I answered shortly.

"How long have you two been together?" she asked, eyeing the bag one more time.

"Forever," Trevor told her, wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders and giving me a wet kiss on my cheek. I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling. For some reason I was feeling shy. "See ya." Trevor grabbed the giant Hot Gothic bag from the counter and led us out of the store.

* * *

The food court was gigantic. It was probably the size of half a football stadium and had every kind of fast food imaginable. Trevor piled up the biggest tray of food I'd ever seen and together we sat down at a small table and shared it.

"You're such a pig," I said as I watched him chow down on a double cheeseburger and French fries.

"Go eat some garlic bread Raven," he retorted, taking a sip of his coke.

"Yeah, how original. The vampire jokes are so old Trevor."

"You still get mad though so I guess it works," he said, smiling at me.

I rolled my eyes and looked around. The food court wasn't very crowded with the exception of a few people. My eyes kept traveling repeatedly to a table where three teenage girls were sitting, all of whom were looking over at Trevor and me with strange expressions on their faces.

"Do you know them?" I asked, slurping up what was left of my Sprite.

"Who?" he asked, looking around.

"Those girls over there are staring at us," I said, nodding my head in their direction.

Trevor's eyes followed in that direction until he saw the three girls. "No, I've never seen them before. Just ignore them."

We continued to eat for a few minutes, bickering every few seconds as was usual between us when one of the girls walked over to our table. She was pretty in a white eyelet dress and flats. She had long blonde hair and big blue eyes. Basically my opposite.

"Uh, hello," she said softly, looking straight at Trevor. He raised his eyebrows in surprise that she was talking to him.

"Uh…hey," he replied, sending me a look that I couldn't quite read.

"Me and my friends saw you earlier and we really think you're cute," she said. Her back was to me and I couldn't see her face. She was blocking me completely out of the conversation. "We were wondering if you'd like to have lunch with us? I mean, if your friend here doesn't mind?" She glanced over her shoulder at me and sent me a contemptuous look that sent my anger aflame.

"Friend?" I growled. My fingers curled around my empty cup, crushing it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this your sister?" she asked Trevor. She wouldn't take her eyes off of him.

"_No_. _I'm---_

"She's my girlfriend," Trevor said proudly, looking at the girl head on.

"What? No way," she gasped, looking between Trevor and me. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem?" he asked her defensively.

She shook her head. "No, I just didn't expect…you two don't look like you'd date each other that's all. She's so…"

"She's the best girl I've ever known," Trevor interrupted, glaring at her. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd leave now."

The girl's mouth snapped closed with an audible snap and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment before she scurried back to her friends, no doubt telling them how rude Trevor and I were. What a witch.

"God I'm sick of people like her," Trevor spat, taking a long sip of his drink.

My heart felt so full that I felt as if it were about to explode in my chest. "Thanks Trevor."

"Huh? For what?"

"For sticking up for me," I said. "The only other person to ever do that for me was Becky."

"Yeah, but you don't need people to stick up for you do you? I've never seen you let someone get away with talking you down. That's one of the reasons I like you so much." _One of the reasons I like you so much_. My heart was so overworked.

"Well, it's nice to know that people care, that's all," I admitted.

"Who said I care?" he asked.

My mouth fell open. "You're such a jerk."

"Oh really? Cause just a second ago I was the nicest guy in the world," he said smiling at me.

"I must've been seeing things because there is no way a jerk like you could ever be nice," I rumbled, grabbing my purse and standing up. "I'm leaving."

"Come on Raven," he moaned as I walked away. I heard the scrape of his chair on the tiled floor and then the next thing I knew I was enveloped from behind in his strong arms. "I was kidding. You know I care."

I smiled. "Yeah I know. I was just tricking you."

"Touche."

"Score one for Raven, score one for Trevor. Now we're even." I chuckled. He kissed my cheek and grabbed hold of my hand.

"Let's go home."

* * *

"I can't take this into my house Trevor," I said, holding up the small pink bag. "My parents will kill me a thousand times over."

"It's just a bag Raven."

"It's not _just a bag_ Trevor. It's a lingerie bag. And that's not even the point. I can't bring what's inside of the bag inside of my house either. Where am I supposed to hide it?" I asked anxiously.

His brow furrowed. "Why would you have to hide it?"

I gaped at him. "Why? Maybe because it's not something a teenage girl should even own." I hissed.

"But you already have something like it," he said. He was obviously confused.

"First of all, you wouldn't even know that unless you went digging in my underwear drawer, and second of all, no I don't." I whispered hurriedly under my breath.

Trevor tucked his lips in to stifle his laughter until he couldn't contain it anymore and he had to bend over in the driver's seat so he could laugh his head off at me. When he finally calmed down I pushed the bag into his arms.

"You can keep it. Give it to me when I'm old enough to wear something like that you pervert."

"There you go with the pervert thing again," he muttered under his breath. "Okay, turn around." He ordered.

"Why?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Please?"

"Fine." I sighed, twisting around in the passenger seat to face the window. "But don't try any funny stuff or I'll beat you up."

"Oh no," he said in false horror. "Now hold still."

There was a brief sound of rustling and then I felt something soft wind it's way around my neck. "Are you choking me?"

"I guess you could say that, but I don't think you'll die," he said quietly. I could feel his fingers working on something at the nape of my neck and then he moved something heavy around to rest in the hollow of my throat. My hand flew up to touch it.

It was a necklace.

"What is this?" I breathed wonderingly, examining blindly the lace choker he had just tied around my neck.

"Your present," he said into my ear. "Look."

He pulled down the visor above my head and flipped open the mirror. I gasped. It was gorgeous. Made of black lace, it fit around my neck perfectly. The back was tied together with a perfectly sized silk ribbon and hanging at the front was a silver locket, encrusted with crystals. "Trevor…this is…"

"Not lingerie?"

I laughed. "Yeah, it's definitely not what I thought it was."

"Don't worry. Next time we go there, I'll buy you something small and sexy and lacy and transparent…" he trailed off teasingly.

"I can't wait," I said sarcastically.

"Neither can I."

I toyed with the locket. "Does it open?"

"It should…" he said. He pushed my fingers aside and pried it open. "Yeah, it does."

I held my chin up so he could inspect it more closely. "Tell me. Is it beautiful?"

"Yes, you are." I gasped when I felt his wet mouth assault my neck but I didn't stop him. His tongue slid across the edge of the choker, wetting my skin completely before his lips latched onto the side of my neck to gently nip at it with his teeth. My arms wound their way around his neck to hold him to me.

"Tre…vor," I moaned. He pulled back from me a little so he could climb out of the drivers seat over to my side so he was kneeling in front of me on his knees between my legs, his head now even with my neck to make kissing me easier. He pressed forward into me and my legs spread wider to accommodate him as he continued to suck lightly on my neck. There was a click and then the back of the passenger seat completely fell backwards so that I was now lying on my back.

"Sorry, it just makes this easier," he said as he climbed over me so that we were now face to face. He touched the end of his nose to mine and rubbed them together and then laughed. "You know what that was?"

"No," I breathed.

"An Eskimo kiss," he explained, rubbing the tip of his nose against mine again and smiling.

"Hmm…" I tucked my fingers beneath the hem of his shirt to feel his muscled stomach. "I think I like French kisses better."

Trevor groaned and buried his head in the side of my neck. "Damn it."

"What's wrong?"

"You."

"What did I do?" I asked worriedly.

No answer.

"Is it the same thing that happened earlier today?"

I felt him sigh against my neck. "Yeah."

"Are you going to tell me this time?"

"No."

"Then how can I prevent it from happening again if you don't tell me what I'm doing?" I asked in frustration.

He laughed. "Raven, I don't want it to stop happening."

I sighed. "You're confusing me."

"Good."

I glanced over at the dashboard and freaked out. It was time to go home. It was getting really late. "Trevor, I have to go. We have school tomorrow."

He pulled himself up off of me and helped me sit up. "Fine. I guess I'll let you out here at your corner." He smiled.

"Shut up." I straightened out my clothing and made myself look presentable before grabbing my shopping bags and stepping out of his car. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

His eyes looked troubled. "Yeah…"

"Okay. Good night."

"Raven wait."

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"Tomorrow morning, can you meet me in the parking lot before school?"

"Sure."

He nodded. "Okay. See ya Monster Girl."

"Bye Trevy."

He laughed before rolling up his window and driving off. As I walked home, I couldn't help but to feel a terrible foreboding about tomorrow morning.

What the heck was school going to be like now that Trevor and I were together?

**A/N: Wow. I actually updated after a billion years. I'm truly sorry. Truly. I'm just a bit of a procrastinator…PLEASE REVIEW!!! PLEASE!!! It makes me happy wooooooo :D **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My chest felt heavy with trepidation as I weaved through the shiny cars and trucks parked in the student parking lot. I held my hand against my forehead in a salute to shield my sensitive eyes from the glaring, evil, and torturous rays of that damned sun. Didn't Trevor understand that it was a pain for me to walk all the way to the back of the parking lot? Of course, he had to park as far away from the other cars as possible, less his own shiny, expensive car got hit or scratched. _Rich people…_

Thankfully I was late enough to where the rest of the school was pretty much inside the building so I didn't have to worry about being hit. After all, teenagers can't drive to save their lives, or mine.

As I walked past the last row of cars, I spotted the sleek and flashy exterior of his car in the far right corner of the lot. My heart rate began to pick up and my feet walked in rhythm with my heartbeat. With one hand grasped around the strap of my black messenger bag I raised the other to toy with the locket he had bought for me yesterday.

Yanking the silver handle to the passenger door, I pulled it open only to see Trevor leaning over into the seat and looking up at me agitatedly. "Hurry. Get in the car."

Like a trained dog following its master's orders, I swiftly slid into the passenger seat and slammed closed the door. I looked over to see Trevor sigh in relief.

"Did anyone see you?" he asked, looking over at me.

I frowned. "Do they ever?"

He laughed, but he seemed to have calmed down more. What the hell was up with him? Again, that pulling fear began to whirl in my chest and I folded my arms across my ribcage so I could dig my black fingernails into my pale flesh. It was time to get to the point. I didn't walk around things, I stomped right through them.

"So what is it that you wanted Trevor? You're making me late for class."

"Oh yeah, cause I know that you're such a stickler for being on time for English," he retorted, smirking at me all knowingly. I grimaced.

"Stalker." I accused. "Do you have my entire schedule memorized or something?"

I was only joking when I asked so when he answered with a nonchalant "So what?" I was taken by surprise.

I looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

I could tell that he was a little embarrassed because his cheeks were slightly pink. "Well, you didn't think that all those times we ran into each other were just coincidences, did you?"

"Well…yeah." I said honestly. I never even entertained the idea that all those times Trevor ran into me in the hallway were all planned. My stomach fluttered.

"Well they weren't."

"Thank you." I said, smiling at him.

He lifted a blonde eyebrow at me. "Thank you?"

I shrugged my black covered shoulders. "Well, it's kind of like a compliment when someone stalks you, I think. So thanks."

Trevor shook his head. "Okay, before you get too ahead of yourself, why don't you come out of dreamland Raven. I wasn't _stalking_ you. I was going out of my way to harass you and on occasion, grope you, and you're gonna _thank me_ for it?"

To this, I blushed. I guess I had forgotten about that part. "Why can't you just say 'you're welcome' and be done with it?"

I sent him an icy glare and he glared at me right back. We had now entered into a tense staring contest and he was going down. I puckered my un-blackened lips and furrowed my pencil thin eyebrows in concentration as I stared into his emerald eyes. I saw from the corner of my eye his mouth turn up in a suspicious smirk and I knew something was up. Seconds later, I gasped as a warm hand latched onto my boob.

With the strength of a superhero on steroids, I shoved him off of me.

"You lose." He announced triumphantly, declaring himself the winner of our little battle.

"You suck." I hissed back. "You can't just touch me wherever you feel like Trevor."

"Yes I can. You're mine, I can do whatever I want with you."

I gawked at him in disbelief. Was he serious? Did my triple pierced ears actually hear that for real or were there aliens interfering with the sound waves? "Obviously you've been possessed by some idiotic, pervert demon because there is no way that the sane Trevor would seriously say that to me."

He smiled. "I am sane and I did say that to you."

I narrowed my eyes at him and reached for the handle to open the door so I could leave. What an ass. "Go hump a soccer goal, Trevor."

Just as the door cracked open, Trevor grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me back in. "Raven," he whispered in my ear, pulling aside my hair. "I wasn't being serious."

I turned my head and looked at him, a little staggered at his closeness. "You were."

His catlike almond eyes looked up at me apologetically. "You really need to catch when I'm joking, Raven, or we're going to be fighting a lot."

"And that's new how?" I sighed, rolling my eyes.

Reaching over, Trevor grasped the handle to the still cracked door and slammed it closed. "Raven, I need to talk to you about something important and I'd prefer that you were in a good mood when I told you."

Suddenly, like a bullet through the heart, I was again filled with that poisonous anxiety. "I am in a good mood." I lied.

He studied my face quietly. I could tell he didn't believe me. "Give me a kiss."

I pulled my head back. "No."

He leaned in closer so that his nose was touching mine and I could feel his toothpaste-scented breath on my lips. "Can I kiss you?"

My mouth opened to release a shaky breath. "Yes."

This time, he pulled away. "No, I'd rather you kiss me."

I shook my head and looked down at my lap in embarrassment. I couldn't do it. It was always Trevor that initiated our kisses. I didn't have confidence that I'd be any good at kissing him. He's kissed so many other girls and was an expert at it and me…well, Trevor was my first kiss. Needless to say, I was scared of disappointing him. "I can't."

"You already have though," he argued, lifting my chin. He ran his thumb across my bottom lip.

"No, you kissed me. I've never kissed you."

"You've kissed me back though. It's the same thing, but you start it." He leaned in again waiting for me to kiss him. His green eyes looked up at me expectantly.

I wanted to run but I couldn't. Trevor had me pinned down in the seat. "Why does it matter who starts it?" I asked desperately.

"Because it's nice to feel wanted," Trevor whispered.

"I've already told you that I want you," I growled, starting to get frustrated.

"Yeah, but I want you to show me," he pleaded. I could tell he _really_ wanted me to kiss him. I'd never seen him look so eager.

I bit my lower lip. "It's going to be super short and super lame so don't expect anything amazing."

His eyes lit up in excitement. Before he could utter a word I leaned forward and landed a short, dry, overly puckered kiss on his closed lips. A child's kiss.

"There."

I didn't want to look into his eyes because I feared the disappointment I would see in them.

"Sorry," I muttered. I felt like such a loser.

"For what?"

"For sucking. I'm sure any other girl would be able to kiss you the way you want to be kissed."

"But I don't want to be kissed by any other girl but you. And stop looking so sad, it's depressing." He laughed under his breath and kissed my forehead. "Believe me, it's not a bad thing that you're inexperienced."

"You're just saying that for brownie points."

"No, I'm serious. It's such a turn on knowing that I'm the first guy to show you all of these things," he responded gently.

"Things?" I asked curiously for clarification. "What things?"

The smirk returned to his gorgeous face and the apprehension I had felt earlier was replaced by a warm tingling pooling in my stomach. Inching forward, he placed his mouth next to my ear and ran the tip of his wet tongue across my earlobe, making me shiver. "Naughty things."

I giggled despite myself. Or maybe I was giggling because Trevor's slender fingers were now tickling my ribcage. Clenching my eyes shut, I slid down in the car seat as far as I could go to get away from his excited fingers. My own hands pressed against his chest and I brought one of my knees up and set it firmly against his hard stomach in a futile attempt to get him off of me. I was laughing so hard I felt like I was about to die.

"Tre…vor…STOP!" I squealed, tears beginning to form in my eyes and wetting my eyelashes. Now it was getting dangerous. If my make-up started running, he'd have hot hell to pay. "Please stop!"

"Why should I?" He asked amusedly from above. I cracked a moist eye open to see him smiling wildly above me, his golden blonde hair hanging in his face.

"I can't…breathe!" I gasped.

"That's not a good enough reason," he taunted, continuing to tickle me. "Maybe you can bribe me?"

I wracked my muddled brain for anything I could offer him. "I'll give you…my…rabbit foot…keychain!" I squeaked. My fingers by this point were digging into his shirt and I'm sure I was leaving scratches on his chest.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he said, rejecting my offer.

I was desperate and close to dying. I was laughing so hard and my stomach hurt so bad that I felt as if I could just pass out and never wake up. What did he want? What did I have that Trevor would want? And then I knew. That evil conniving bastard. "A kiss! I'll…give you…a kiss!" I choked out.

And then his fingers stilled and the air finally rushed in and out of my lungs at a natural steady pace. I coughed a little but I was okay. Just angry. "You're such a jerk."

While still above me, he leaned down so that his face was hovering over mine. "No, I'm just a genius. Now do it Raven or I'll tickle you again."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You wouldn't dare."

I felt his fingers dig into my ribs. "I definitely would my little monster freak."

I was fighting an already lost battle. Pushing back the fear and insecurity that had engulfed me earlier, I wrapped one of my hands around the back of his neck. As I began to pull his head down he resisted slightly. "With tongue."

Not replying, I lifted my head from the seat of the car and touched my lips to his just barely. Letting my instincts lead my way I took his upper lip into my mouth gently so that my lower lip rested in the crease of his mouth. I felt him smile against my lips and so I pressed on. Pulling away slightly, I licked my own lips before pressing them to his again. This time, instead of pulling away, I shyly pushed my tongue past his lips. The inside of my mouth began to moisten more as I tasted the salt of his lips on the tip of my tongue. His lips moved further apart against my mouth allowing my tongue to slide further into his until I could feel his smooth, wet, and warm tongue pressed against mine. I felt him sigh against my mouth and I retracted my tongue, only to slip it back in, this time swirling it around his.

Softly, I heard him moan, and then I was no longer the dominant one. With a passion I hadn't seen in him, he pushed me further down into the seat, kissing and nipping at my lips hungrily. My eyes popped open as I felt one of his hands move from my ribs to my breast and his thumb began to press and rub against a very sensitive area of my covered flesh.

Oh no.

Pulling away and pushing him off simultaneously, I gasped for air and looked up at him in a mixture of surprise and frustration. Judging by the look on his face when he noticed where his hand was I quickly deduced that he probably had no idea what he was doing.

Blushing, Trevor pulled his hand away awkwardly. "I hope you realize that you're a way better kisser then you give yourself credit for."

"Or you're just a horny teenager," I said.

"Only when around you."

I wouldn't exactly call the silence that followed that statement to be awkward but it definitely wasn't comfortable. As he finally moved himself off of me to where I could sit up and fix my disheveled hair, I glanced over at him to see him running a finger up and down the side of his steering wheel and a distant look on his face.

"Trevor, just spit it out already. I think you've beaten around the bush enough," I sighed. Honestly, I couldn't afford another tardy for first period but at this rate, it was definitely unavoidable.

Without looking at me he finally spit it out. "I think we should keep the fact that we're dating a secret."

A bone chilling cold rushed through me. "Repeat that please."

He shot a nervous look at me before returning his gaze to the steering wheel. "I just don't think it's the best idea right now. It's not the right time."

I looked out the window so I didn't have to look at him right now. What did this mean? Was he ashamed of me? Embarrassed? I mean, I guess it made sense. He was the hot popular jock at school that all the girls wanted and all the guys wanted to be. He had a reputation, a gigantic one. Of course he'd be embarrassed having someone like me hanging onto him. After all, it was weird. According to normal teenage standards, _I_ was weird. But even though I understood his reasoning, it still hurt. I mean, I'm not like him. I could care less about what others thought of me, but then again…I didn't have much of a reputation. Regardless, either he was going to get over it and tell everyone or we were no longer dating. I had my pride.

"Screw you. There's nothing to keep a secret about Trevor because you and I are no longer dating," I growled angrily. My entire body was shaking. I felt myself on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

Before I could open the car door, the lock shot down, trapping me inside. "Open the door, Trevor." I ordered, trying my best to keep my voice calm. I knew that if I showed even a sliver of my emotions right now, I'd completely explode and probably kill Trevor in the process.

"Let me explain, Raven." He said wearily.

"There's nothing to explain. You've made it obvious that you're embarrassed to be with me so you no longer have to worry about it. In fact, I'm doing you a favor. Now open the damn door before I rip it off."

"Look, this has been stressing me out for days now so please just listen. I swear, I'm not doing this because I'm ashamed of being with you. Will you just listen? Please?"

A small part of me—the part that didn't want to rip his head off right now—wanted to hear what he had to say. Taking a deep breath and temporarily swallowing my anger, I twisted around in my seat, folded my arms across my chest, lifted an intimidating eyebrow, and pinned him down with a steady glare. "You have one minute."

"So, I know this is going to sound unbelievably cocky but it has to be said." He looked at me cautiously. "But I'm super popular."

I rolled my eyes. "And let me guess—I'm damaging to your reputation?"

"I guess, but that's not what the problem is. I don't even care about that."

"Right." I interrupted scathingly. "Well if that's not the problem then what _is_?"

He sighed. "Well if you would just give me a second, I'll explain it to you."

He didn't continue but looked at me expectantly. Rolling my eyes, again, I gave in. "Fine. Go on."

"Well, as I'm sure you've noticed, there are more than a few girls at school that like me…"

"Yeah, the mentally insane."

"_And_ I would prefer that you were included in that group." He continued.

I scowled. "We'll see."

"And I know you know which Jennifer I'm talking about when I say she'd go nuts if she found out you and I were together."

I couldn't believe this was what he was worried about. He didn't want to hurt _Jennifer Warren's _feelings? "And you care so much about her feelings because?"

"I don't care about her feelings, but I do care about what she'll do to you if she finds out about the two of us. Do you understand now?" He looked at me pleadingly and my anger waned. I looked down as he reached for one of my hands and grasped it firmly in his own. "I just don't want anyone to ruin this right now Raven."

"I can take care of some psycho cheerleader, Trevor."

"It's not like she's going to try and beat you up Raven. You don't know how conniving and low she is. She'll do everything in her power to tear us apart and she has a massive weapon to her advantage."

"And what would that be?" I asked curiously.

"My mom."

A small chuckle escaped my mouth and I swiftly brought my free hand up to stifle it. Was he really that scared of his own mother? I mean, sure, she was intimidating and whatever, but what could she possibly do? Ground him? "Oh no, not your mommy."

He sent me a slightly peeved look. "Do you know why my family is so rich?"

"Yeah, you only own the biggest real estate agency on this side of the state," I answered matter-of-factly.

"And your mom works for that agency," he added.

I raised my eyebrow higher. "So what?"

Now it was Trevor's turn to roll his eyes. "So basically, if my mom finds out that you and I are together and that I'm not making moves on Jennifer, your mom is pretty much out of a job."

Now I was very confused. "Slow down Speed Racer, I'm lost." He smirked. "What the heck do you mean 'if I'm not making moves on Jennifer'?"

Trevor grimaced. Obviously this was something he really didn't want to explain. "It shouldn't be a secret to you that my mom wants me to date Jennifer. I think it might have everything to do with the fact that she's pretty much a younger version of my mom."

"And also the complete opposite of me," I added, quite proud of the fact.

"And that," he agreed. "But more importantly, her family owns a large contracting business. In the eyes of my parents and her parents, we're a match made in real-estate heaven."

Now it made sense. "So if Jennifer found out that you and I were together she'd tell your parents?"

"And then my mom would get angry and fire your mother. That's pretty much how it'll go down if we don't keep our relationship under wraps." He finished, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

I looked down at my fishnet covered knees as my brain processed this new predicament. There was no use trying to come up with an alternate plan. We had no choice. I had no choice. If I wanted to stay with Trevor and make sure that my mom kept her job as an agent in Mrs. Mitchell's company, then we had to keep our relationship a secret from everyone. No one could know, not even Becky.

"How long do we have to keep this a secret?" I asked quietly, picking at a pull in my stockings.

Trevor heaved a sigh. "There's no telling. I can promise you it's not going to be any time soon. We'll just have to bear with it for a while." He kissed the back of my hand reassuringly and my heart clenched.

"Does this mean we're not going on any dates anytime soon?"

"I'll try my best to think of something Raven. I'm not saying we can't see each other anymore, we just can't see each other while in front of others. But when no one's looking, we're free to do as we want. Think of it as if we're having a hot affair or something," he laughed, lightening the mood.

I smiled. "So I'm the other woman?"

I felt his warm lips press softly against my cheek. "Doesn't it make you excited?"

"Kind of," I admitted. "But the entire thing still sucks."

"Well, if it's too much for you to deal with you can always just break up with me," Trevor whispered, untangling his hand from mine. I quickly snatched it back. He smirked.

"Try not to be an idiot, Trevor. I know it's hard for you, but try."

I looked over at him and he touched his forehead to mine. "If we're going to do this successfully, we're going to have to revert to how we used to be around each other. To me, you're just the creepy monster chick that sleeps in cemeteries and raises the dead, okay?"

My smile widened. "And you're just the idiot soccer player who doesn't know how to tie his own shoes or make his bed."

"Now that sounds like a match made in heaven."

And strangely enough, it kind of did.

* * *

It hadn't quite hit me just how hard it was going to be to revert back to our old ways until lunch came around and I had to pass Trevor's crowded table without making eye contact with him or any other sign that I noticed his existence. It was _very_ hard. Every fiber of my being wanted to see who he was sitting with, what his face looked like, what he was eating, to hear what he was talking about, and most of all, if Jennifer Warren was sitting with him. But my will was strong so as I pushed through the doors into the cafeteria, my Hello Batty lunchbox in hand, I glued my eyes to the back of Becky's head and didn't stray for a second.

I made the smart decision to sit with my back towards his table. There was no need to expose myself to temptation. "Hey Becky."

"What's up?" She said happily, gulping down a spoonful of chocolate pudding.

"Nothing interesting," I lied.

"Really? What did you do this weekend?" She asked, eating another spoonful.

I wracked my brains. Lying didn't have to be hard. I could just tell the truth while leaving out one major detail, like Trevor. "I just went to the mall, that's pretty much it."

"Did you buy anything?"

"Uhh, yeah, I got this necklace," I said, pointing at the chocker Trevor had bought for me.

Becky's eyes grew wide. "Wow. That's super pretty. Where'd you get it?"

No way in hell was I going to tell her that I got it at a lingerie boutique. "I don't remember. Some store or something. So uhh, where's Matt?" I asked, quick to change the subject. My lying skills could use some work.

Becky perked up upon hearing her beloved boyfriend's name. "He's over there talking to Trevor about their schedule this week for practice. They have a big game coming up on Friday so practice is going to be tough this week."

"Cool." I wanted to slap myself. Since when did I ever think anything relating to soccer and Trevor was 'cool'?

I don't think Becky heard my slip up though because just as I said it, Matt was making his way to our table with Trevor hot on his heels. I decided that then was a good time to open my lunchbox and play with my Fruit Rollup with the concentration of a surgeon doing open-heart surgery.

"Welcome back," Becky cooed as Matt leaned in and sweetly kissed her cheek. She giggled and I rolled my eyes. Really, they we're the most gag-worthy couple.

"Hey Raven," Matt greeted, kind as always.

"Hi," I said shortly, offering a quick smile and a glance at him. In that split second, I saw Trevor take the seat across from me and I returned my attention to my multi-colored, evidently _fascinating_, fruit snack.

"What? You're not gonna say hi to me Monster Girl? My feelings are hurt," I heard him say, his voice filled with perceptible false misery.

I lifted my eyes away from my uneaten snack to glare at him. "Why would I say hi to you?"

His green eyes lit up with excitement now that I was paying him attention. "Because you love me, that's why."

My mouth fell open in shock. "You wish, loser. You're nowhere near my type. Grow a brain and then we'll talk."

Trevor frowned but Becky jumped in before he could retort. "So Trevor, I was telling Raven about the game on Friday."

His gaze moved from my face to hers and the light in his eyes dimmed. "Oh yeah?"

Becky nodded. Her gaze lingered a little too long on his face which irked me before she looked at her own boyfriend. I needed to speak to Trevor later about controlling his sexy waves or it was going to become a major problem.

"You should come, Raven." Matt chimed in.

"Uhh…" I didn't know what to say. I couldn't remember what the old me would say in this situation. I mean, it wasn't Trevor that was asking me to come, it was Matt, so it was different, right? So I decided to buy myself some time. "Why?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Becky will be there and I'm sure she could use some company."

I wanted to laugh. The last time I went with Becky to a soccer game, she ditched me and left me alone to be harassed by two cheerleaders and my _prince charming_.

"Yeah, come Raven!" Becky exclaimed excitedly.

"I guess I could go for a little while…" I conceded. "Are you gonna give me a ride?" I looked at Becky expectantly but she avoided my eyes.

"Well…you see…me and Matt were kind of planning on going on a date after the game and he's giving me a ride so…." She took a super long sip from her Capri Sun.

"I can pick you up Raven, it's no big deal," Matt said. Jeeze, he really was too nice. "I mean, that is if you don't mind going with us afterwards?"

"Where are you going?"

"The movies." Becky and Matt answered simultaneously.

I bit my lip. "But won't I be a burden? I'd feel weird tagging along on your date." Being the third wheel was never fun and when around those two, it would be extremely, unbearably, and excruciatingly awkward.

"Don't worry, you won't be alone. _Others_ will be there," Matt said, glancing suspiciously at Becky. 'Others'. How vague.

"Who else is going Becky?" I inquired, staring her down. There was no escape.

"Me," came the short reply from my one and only. Matt sent a weary look Trevor's way.

"_He's_ going?" I said, pointing a thin finger at Trevor and looking from Matt to Becky for confirmation. This was the perfect opportunity. Trevor and me could go on a date together and we didn't even have to try. I only had to make it seem unwanted but at the same time unavoidable. All I needed was a little help from Trevor. Discreetly, I kicked Trevor beneath the table. From my peripheral I saw him twitch a little, but otherwise the move went unnoticed.

"Is that a problem Raven? Don't tell me my presence bothers you that much?" Trevor chided, leaning his elbow onto the table and resting his chin in the palm of his hand, framing his face beautifully. Oh yeah, those sexy waves were on full force.

"Please. I'll hardly notice you're there." I spat vehemently.

"So you're going?!" Becky squealed happily, grabbing my arm and shaking me.

I smiled, my eyes locking onto Trevor's before looking down at Becky. "I guess so."

Mission accomplished.

* * *

Fourth period finally reared its ugly head and there I sat, a few seats behind Trevor, waiting for us to be called up front to present our project. Due to our lack of work ethic over the weekend, our project turned out to be less than satisfactory, but I was confident that we would pass considering my partner was no other than the 'great' Trevor Mitchell.

When Mrs. Turner finally called us up, I did the exhausting task of turning off the classroom lights and Trevor had the honor of slipping in the DVD with our short but completed assignment. As our project played on the out of date TV set in the corner of the classroom, I folded my arms across my chest and tried to ignore the fact that Heather Ryan was staring at me.

When the lights switched back on and our presentation concluded, Trevor did an obnoxious bow and then soon received undeserved applause. I just walked myself back to my desk and tried not to fall asleep as the rest of the class presented their superior projects, although not as well acclaimed.

After class, I left with Becky as we walked down the hallway to the school exit on our way to her truck. I was kind of bummed because me and Trevor hardly exchanged more than a glance before we had to leave each other to go home. Yeah, we were definitely fooling everyone because there was no way we looked like we were dating.

"I was surprised at how well your project went, Raven. Did you and Trevor finally manage to put your differences aside and work together?" Becky asked.

"We didn't. It took all day just to create that three-minute sorry excuse for a project, Becky. It was torture." I groaned.

"Thank God it's over." Whispered a familiar voice.

I whipped around. Trevor was following closely behind us, his hands in his pockets and that smirk on his handsome face. My heart fluttered and my gloom lifted.

"Hey Trevor, what's up?" Becky asked happily.

"I just need to have a quick word with Raven if you don't mind," he said smoothly, grasping hold of my arm and pulling me away.

I looked at him wide eyed. "For what?"

"It's about our project. Mrs. Turner needs to ask us something," he answered. He looked back at Becky. "She'll be right back, this'll just take a second."

"O-okay…I'll be in the truck Raven."

"You better be."

I allowed Trevor to drag me wherever he was leading me until we wound up in an empty classroom, the only lighting coming from the windows. Once the door was closed I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I know I said this earlier but this _really_ sucks Trevor."

"I know," he said, stepping closer to me and wrapping me in his arms. I felt so relaxed as I breathed in the smell of his spicy cologne and the softness of his shirt on my cheek was wonderful. I felt like a cradled baby being rocked to sleep. "We have to make this quick though. I told Becky you'd be right back and I don't need her to come looking. I just wanted to say bye. So…" He leaned down a pressed his warm lips to mine. I didn't have enough time to prepare myself and he took full advantage of my surprised state by slipping his tongue in. I mentally rolled my eyes but outwardly I was clinging to him like a koala on a tree. Just when I was really getting into our kiss, he pulled away and kissed the tip of my nose.

My heartbeat was erratic. "Woah. Why are you being so mushy? Are you sick or something?"

"No, I'm just trying to get up your skirt."

I pulled away from him. "And with that, I think I'll take my leave." I was only kidding, but I guess he took me seriously, because as I made to walk away he pulled me back to him so that I fell into his lap. We were now both seated in the same desk and my butt was pressed quite uncomfortably against his groin.

He nuzzled my neck. "We still have a couple of minutes and I haven't seen you all day."

"Then your eyes were closed because I remember seeing you plenty. And besides, we'll have tons of time to spend with each other on our _date_," I laughed, twisting around in his lap and placing my hands on his shoulders to keep my balance.

"Yeah but with Becky and Matt there it's not going to feel like a date," Trevor pouted.

I touched my finger to my lips in thought. "Well, I'm sure we can figure out some way to sneak off."

"And do what? They're our ride so whatever you want to do involves us walking."

I nodded. "Is that going to be a problem? Last time I checked, you were an athlete. A little stroll shouldn't bother you."

He sent me a loaded look. "You're planning something freaky aren't you?"

I smirked. "If I have to sit through your soccer game then you can accompany me on a paranormal investigation."

Trevor's green eyes all but fell out of his skull. "You're nuts."

Now it was my turn to pout. The thing was, I had this in the bag. I had sexy waves of my own. "So you're telling me that you don't want to be all alone with me in a dark, abandoned, fully-furnished house where no one can hear us?" I fluttered my eyelashes and traced a gentle line down the side of his neck. He gulped.

"Well, if you put it that way I guess I can deal with a couple of ghosts for a night…"

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Trevor Mitchell, I think it's only a matter of time before you join the dark side."

"Hardly. I'm only going because I can play with you," he responded, nipping at my neck and lowering his hands down my back.

"You're so unromantic, do you know that?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair as he continued to assault my neck with his teeth and tongue.

"_I'm_ unromantic? You're the one who considers ghost hunting a date," he retorted. "Where is this house anyway?"

"On top of Benson Hill."

"Well can I ask one favor from you? Can you wear those tights that you have that go to here?" He asked, touching my mid-thigh.

I raised an eyebrow. "You want me to wear thigh highs? Why?"

Trevor's cheeks pinked. "I like them."

"What if I'm wearing pants?"

He frowned. "No pants. You better wear a dress. If not, I'm not going."

"You just want to see my underwear," I accused. Even though it was perverted, knowing that Trevor was so interested in my undergarments made me excited.

"I want to see more than just your underwear Raven," he said seductively.

"You'll see my fist if you don't stop," I growled.

I felt his chest rumble against mine as he laughed into my neck, his hot breath blowing across my skin. "You know, you're the only girl that has resisted me to the point that I'm about to explode. All of my old girlfriends by this point would be—

I held my hand over his mouth, one, because I really did not want to hear about his sexual exploits with other girls and, two, because there were voices talking outside the door of the classroom we were in. I put my finger over my lips in a silent command for Trevor to stay quiet and I climbed off of his lap.

"—'ve seen her. When her and Trevor got up to present, she looked so gross standing next to him it was almost comical. I can't believe _she_ got to be his partner. Of all people. Poor Trevor."

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that that nasally voice belonged to Heather Ryan. Even though there was a thick wooden door separating us, I could practically see her with a hand on her hip and her other messing with her hair as she spewed whatever insults her simple mind could think up about me.

"Ugh, she's such a freak." Came the disgusted voice of Jennifer Warren. The clank of a locker opening followed her outburst. "I just want to push her into a tub of bleach."

I stepped closer to the door and my nimble fingers slowly turned the lock of the classroom. I had to make sure that neither Heather or Jennifer could walk into the classroom or Trevor and me would be exposed. How could we explain ourselves out of this situation? I pressed both my hands to the door and pressed my ear to the crack in order to hear them better. I wasn't offended, yet, but I was waiting for something that would get my blood boiling. I loved having more reasons to hate Jennifer and Heather. It made revenge all the more sweet.

"Seriously. Like, I just don't get the whole Goth thing. It's so creepy," Heather replied. I pictured her sticking her tongue out as if she were gagging.

"It's just an excuse for her to get away with dressing like a slut," Jennifer said. A hard frown fell across my lips. "She probably thinks Trevor likes her or something after he kissed her at the game. She's such an idiot. If she knew just how many girls he's kissed, she wouldn't consider herself so special. Being kissed by Trevor is the same as being waved at by anybody else. It only ever matters if he _sleeps_ with you."

I felt as if someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water onto me. I was riveted to the spot and my mind was soaking in every word she spoke. It wasn't exactly what she was saying, but _how_ she was saying it. It was as if she were implying that…

"But has he ever slept with anyone?" Heather asked curiously.

My heart skipped a beat in anticipation of Jennifer's answer. My fingers curled inwards against the door and my teeth clamped down on my bottom lip.

"_No way_. You're so lucky, Jennifer, oh my gosh," Heather gasped excitedly. The sound of a locker door slamming surprised me and I pulled my head away from the door.

Silence filled the classroom, and I couldn't bring myself to look at Trevor. I don't know why I was so surprised. I had always known that Trevor wasn't a virgin. He'd had way too many girlfriends and he was way too touchy-feely that the idea of him being innocent was ridiculous, but that didn't make it any easier to bear. Knowing the fact itself without the details, I could handle, but now that I knew one of the, what was likely many, faces of the girls he'd been with, I felt like crying. In fact, tears were welling in my eyes at that moment.

"Raven…"

His soft voice cut through my thoughts like a knife in butter, and I suddenly became frantic and had the burning need to escape. "Um, Becky is waiting for me. I've got to go—bye."

I was out of that classroom like a bat out of hell, and within minutes, I was in the passenger seat of Becky's truck, gasping for breath and my sanity.

"Raven? What's wrong?" Becky asked concernedly, revving up the engine.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"You're crying…did Trevor do something?" She asked as we pulled out of the school.

I wiped my face with my fingers. "Uh, no. Turns out that I didn't do as good as I thought on my project," I lied. I swear, all this lying was going to catch up to me.

Becky was silent the rest of the way to my house, which I was thankful for. It looked like I was in desperate need of another wallowing session as I thought about how Trevor has already had sex with a majority of the girls that ridiculed me on a daily basis. Suddenly I had so many questions I needed to ask him, and yet I was way too scared of the answers I would receive and of the look I would see on his face when he told me.

* * *

It was around eleven o'clock that night when I was lying on my bed in my black silk night shorts and black tank top watching _Night of the Living Dead_ when I heard a light knocking on my window. Sitting up in my bed, I stared at my window in nervous fascination as the knocking continued. I was confused. After all, my bedroom _was_ on the second story of my house…

Cautiously, I moved aside my purple curtains to reveal the strained face of Trevor hanging onto the branch of the tree beside my house. I gasped in surprise and opened my window to stick my head out. "What the hell are you doing you psycho?" I hissed in shock.

"Raven, move out of the way," he breathed. Obliging, I fell back onto my bed and watched as Trevor heaved himself halfway into my room, his legs thumping loudly against the side of my house as he climbed inside.

I stood from my bed and closed my window before whipping around to glare at Trevor who was brushing himself off. "Are you trying to wake up the whole house? What the hell are you doing here, Trevor?" I whispered angrily.

He didn't answer as he silently examined my room. "I expected at _least_ a cauldron. This is quite disappointing, Raven," he commented just as quietly, sending me a teasing smile. He glanced at my television just in time to see a zombie attack a screaming girl and his smile faded. "What are you watching?"

"_Night of the Living Dead_. Now answer me, Trevor. Why are you here?" I demanded, stepping in front of the television so he was looking down at me.

His eyes studied mine. "You don't seem very happy to see me," he said disappointedly.

Guilt settled in my chest. Normally, I'd be elated that he had come to visit me, but after spending my whole afternoon thinking about him being with other girls, I was kind of really angry with him, which wasn't really fair. It wasn't as if he'd cheated on me. I was just jealous of his past and angry that I could never change it. I sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little tired, so I'm kind of cranky."

I felt his fingers wind through mine and I smiled slightly. "Let's lay down then." He suggested, his voice holding no underlying plans to seduce me, and so I followed him as he stretched out onto my bed after taking off his shoes. I eyed him suspiciously as he held out his arms for me to crawl into, but I didn't ask any questions. I was tired of fighting with him for one day. Falling onto my bed, I curled my back against his chest and he wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel his warmth seeping into me. Falling asleep like this would be much too easy.

"So, I'm pretty sure I already know, but I want to hear it from you anyways. What's wrong?" He whispered into my ear softly.

I sighed. "I don't feel like talking about it."

Trevor was silent for a few minutes. Even though the living dead were ripping open the stomach of a terrified teenager on my television, my mind was concentrated on the feel of Trevor's body pressed against my back and his hot breath on my ear. "Raven, I've never slept with Jennifer."

My heart thudded in my chest. I twisted my head to the side to look at him, my left shoulder hitting the center of his chest. "What? Then why did she…"

"She lied. She does that, Raven—a lot. She's just bitter that I _haven't_ slept with her when she's given me so many opportunities to." His green eyes were glistening with honesty and I felt my sunken heart begin to inflate and float back upwards to the surface of happiness. "_But_, Raven, I'm still not a virgin."

I averted my eyes from his. "Yeah, I figured as much."

I felt him remove one of his hands from my stomach to place it on my cheek. I looked back into his eyes. "I'm sorry."

The regret in his eyes hit me as if I'd just been punched in the stomach and I felt out of breath. I didn't know what to say. "Trevor…"

"I want you to know that they meant nothing to me, Raven. I lost my virginity to some girl whose face I can barely remember. I've had sex with girls and I've dated girls that I didn't care about because I was bored. Raven," His whispered voice was verging on desperate and with every word I found it even more impossible to take my eyes away from his. "If I had known that one day you would be with me, something I had always thought would never happen, I would never have even looked at another girl. I never really have. Every day since we've been together I've beaten myself up knowing that if I hadn't been such an idiot, my first time could've been with you."

I felt my eyes moisten and I brought one of my hands up to wrap around the hand Trevor had on my stomach. Hearing his words and knowing that his feelings mirrored my own, I felt as if the connection between us had somehow grown stronger. "Trevor, you're always going to be an idiot, but that aside, I think it's stupid to worry about something that happened in the past. Of course, it would be nice if you weren't so much more experienced than me…"

"That seems to _really _bother you, I've noticed," he commented curiously.

I felt my cheeks heat. "I don't want you to compare me to other girls." My embarrassment heightened when he smirked at my confession. "Don't laugh, it's not funny," I growled.

"No, it's just that all other girls pale in comparison," Trevor whispered, his eyes leaving mine to wander down my body. When his emerald orbs returned to my face, a dangerous fire was dancing in them. "Raven, do you have any idea how attractive you are?"

"Trevor, do you have any idea how corny you are?" I breathed teasingly, although my heart was thudding anxiously in my chest. I looked down to see the hand he had on my stomach slowly making it's way upwards until it was lying on my upper ribcage, just below the fall of my breast. Thankfully his hand wasn't under my tank top.

"You're not wearing a bra?" I felt his fingertips dance quickly along the top curve of my breast stealthily. I was just as quick to catch hold of his wrist to stop him from touching me further.

My eyes met his, expecting to see some sort of reaction to me catching him doing something he shouldn't, but I was completely thrown off to see his face completely flustered and his mouth slightly agape with his strained breathing.

"Trevor?"

"Sorry, I just need to calm down," he exhaled, burying his face in the side of my neck and tightening his arm around my waist.

"Calm down?" I repeated, not sure as to why he was suddenly in this state. "What's wrong?"

"You know that thing that has been happening to me and I won't tell you what it is?" He asked me quietly, his breath hot against my neck.

"Yes."

"Would you like to know what it is?" His voice was deep and husky and my heart pounded painfully against my chest as his petal soft lips pressed against my neck. The hand that wasn't around my waist came up to brush aside my hair as the tip of his tongue trailed upwards to my earlobe. I shivered as he softly blew into my ear. "I'm so hard right now, it's unbearable."

Trevor slowly curved his hips forward against my bottom so that I could feel the hard bulge between his legs. I gasped. "Trevor…" I breathed warningly, although my entire body began to heat with sudden desire, signaled by the hardening of my nipples beneath my tank top and the warm liquid fire in my lower stomach.

"I promised you I wouldn't, and I won't," he said gently, returning his moist lips to my neck. "Just let me kiss you a little."

He lifted his head from my neck and looked down into my face pleadingly. And although I knew this was not a good idea, I could not say no, because I wanted him just as badly. Turning on the bed so that I was laying on my back, I supported myself up on my elbows and touched the tip of my nose to his, our breath mingling with the others. "Don't you dare break your promise, even if it seems that I want you to."

He nodded once slightly before sitting up and placing one of his legs between mine. His warm hand slid against my cheek as he brought our faces closer together, our eyes closing slowly with every passing second. "I told you I wouldn't…," His lips pressed softly against mine before he pulled away to tilt his head to the other side. "…not until…" His lips returned to mine, sucking softly, before pulling away for the last time. "…you say the magic words."

When his lips returned to mine, my mouth opened slightly to welcome the smooth entrance of his slick tongue. The force of our mouths colliding made my arms weak and I fell back into my pillows, my hands grasping desperately for the fabric of Trevor's shirt. His tongue assaulted my mouth hungrily before pulling out to lick beneath my chin, causing me to involuntarily arch my back so that my chest was pressed up into his. The movement caused my hips to sink further into the bed, away from his. To counteract this movement, Trevor thrust his hips forward and downward into mine, both of us gasping at the hard contact, our mouths breaking apart and leaving a string of saliva hanging between us from our lips.

The pressure of his hardened bulge pressed between my legs was amazing and I pulled my legs upwards so that my knees were sticking up in the air, encasing his hips between them.

"Ah," he breathed into my ear, rolling his hips forward against mine again. I sighed when I felt his soft hands slowly slide up the backs of my thighs until he reached my knees where he gripped them hard.

I groaned in slight discomfort when he pushed my legs forwards so that my knees were almost touching the mattress, but the position itself was wonderful. The backs of my knees were now resting on his broad shoulders so my legs hung over onto his back, and as he lowered himself back on top of me, his groin pressed harder into my now burning core.

Ever so slowly, he began to rock back and forth, rubbing himself gently against my thinly covered core. With every upward swing of his hips, his fingers would tighten briefly on my legs. My hands tugged the fabric of his shirt, not in an effort to take it off, but as something to hold onto as my body and mind were sent reeling to places exotic and dangerously addictive. Eventually, I found my own hips beginning to rock in time with his so that when he moved away from my body, I moved forward to meet him. The bottom halves of our bodies never broke contact.

As we continued to quietly rub against each other, a sore burning began to materialize between my legs where Trevor was fervently grinding himself into me. "Ah," I ground out through gritted teeth, my eyes clenching slightly. His movements halted.

"Raven?"

"I think all of this is making me chafe." There went our hot and heavy atmosphere. While it was still pleasurable, having Trevor grind his zipper into my crotch was only comfortable for so long. "Maybe next time you should wear your soccer shorts." They were nice and silky which would suit this activity just fine.

Trevor looked down at me with a worried look on his face, his green eyes clouded. "I should go," he whispered quietly. His face looked pained.

"Should you?" I asked, not really wanting him to leave.

"It's really painful, Raven. I need to get rid of it and I can't do it here."

"Why not?" I asked, unthinkingly, my mind still foggy from before.

His cheeks flared a soft pink, but his eyes did not seem adverse to the idea. "You don't care if I jack-off in front of you?" He asked in flustered disbelief.

It was now my turn to be super embarrassed. "Well…it is my fault…and I can turn the television off so that I won't see anything…" I suggested. I couldn't believe I was actually agreeing to this.

He studied me a moment before leaning forward and kissing my lips softly. "Thank you, but no. I don't want the first time you see me cum being by my own hand."

"You don't?" I asked stupidly. My mind was in shock at the moment. I wasn't used to so many feelings at once. Between Trevor's wet kisses, his dirty words, his lustful gaze, and his hands on my body, I couldn't think straight at all.

He smirked. "I'd rather you see me cum when I'm _inside_ of you."

My stomach flipped and the hand I had fisted in his shirt tightened as the area between my legs quivered in wet, heated want.

I felt him gently pull my hands away from his shirt before he climbed off of me to pull the covers over my body. I smiled sleepily at him when he laid a gentle kiss to my temple. I suddenly felt as if I were about to pass out. I just barely had any idea of what was going on around me. I closed my eyes when the television was turned off and yawned.

"Hey Raven?" I heard Trevor whisper quietly.

"Hn?"

"What are the magic words again?" His voice sounded like a far off echo.

I burrowed my head into my pillow and sighed. "I love you," I mumbled, having no idea what I was really saying.

And because of the dark and the fact that at that point I was pretty much asleep, I couldn't see Trevor's blinding smile as he climbed out of my window.

**A/N: I do not like this chapter at all. I'm so unsatisfied with it, but no matter how many times I try to rewrite it, it turns out the same, so I guess it's just meant to be. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. Truly. I'm just all over the place. I've started about fourteen other stories since I've written Chapter 5 of this story. I'm just soooooooo bad with updating published stories. Ugh. I'm sorry this chapter wasn't worth the wait…hopefully the next one will be faster…PLEASE REVIEW!!! **


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